


something wicked this way comes

by no_one_here



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hogwarts AU, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:09:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 44,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26633401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/no_one_here/pseuds/no_one_here
Summary: If you told Julie Molina a year ago that she would be best friends with three of the most drooled-over guys in Hogwarts, falling in love with one of them, and attempting to stop a dark plot from an evil wizard… she would have laughed in your face. Then hexed you for good measure.Fate, as it has it, is a funny thing.(Hogwarts!AU but you don't need to know anything about Harry Potter to read)
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 255
Kudos: 811





	1. Convergence

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is the start of a 16 chapter saga, which i have planned out. i will update probably every couple of days? this was highly requested on tumblr, so i hope you enjoy it! in case anyone gets confused: 
> 
> Alex, Reggie, and Luke are all sixth-year Hufflepuffs. Julie and Flynn are fifth-year Ravenclaws.

There was no question that Luke, Reggie, and Alex were pretty popular at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The teachers knew it, the students knew it, and Julie Molina had definitely noticed it.

There was Alex, Hufflepuff prefect and the nicest guy you could ever meet. Sensitive, kind, and friendly to all, many people at school were smitten with the tall blonde. After coming out as gay in third year, his popularity only seemed to increase. It was well known that if you ever needed help with anything, Alex was the guy to go to. Perhaps the most endearing thing about Alex is that he seemed oblivious to his own charm; he got flustered easily and had a hard time accepting compliments.

Then, there was Reggie. A potions prodigy and all-around goofball, there was never a dull moment with Reggie around. The rumor around the school was that he’s working on creating his own “specialty” line of potions that had a range of effects from helping you focus in class to hair growth. For all of his potion’s prowess, though, he was a bit clueless when it came to street smarts. If you ever wanted to play a game of exploding snap or needed help in potions class, though, Reggie was your guy.

Finally, there was Luke; the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain and leader of the trio. He was an amazing chaser, and there were rumors that he was going to be scouted to a professional team after he graduated next year. Outside of Quidditch, Luke was well known for being a natural leader and team player. He was also quite the heartthrob, never really having a serious girlfriend but leaving an accidental string of broken hearts across the four houses.

Everyone at school knew that all three of them had been inseparable since their very first train ride to Hogwarts. After one hour of bonding on the train and three galleons worth of sweets later, they became best friends and vowed to be in the same house together no matter what.

As the three of them walked into the Great Hall for the beginning of term feast, Julie couldn’t keep her eyes off of them. Alex and Reggie pushed each other playfully as they walked down the middle aisle, Luke trailing closely behind. All eyes were on them as they entered. Luke’s yellow and black tie hung loosely around his neck, half untied. He was cute, Julie supposed, but she didn’t really get all of the hype. Still, she couldn’t look away. There was just something about them…

“Earth to Julie! JULIE!” someone yelled, waving their hand in front of Julie’s face. Julie snapped her head to look at Flynn. Right. Her and her best friend and fellow Ravenclaw, Flynn, were having a conversation before she had zoned out.

Julie smiled sheepishly, hand coming up to smooth her dark brown curls. “Sorry Flynn. I spaced for a second there.”

Flynn crossed her arms. “Did you even hear anything I said?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Her wand was tucked behind her ear haphazardly, looking like it was about to fall out at any minute.

“You… were talking about… sorting?” Julie guessed.

The other witch shook her head in exasperation. “You’re lucky I love you, Julie Molina.” She smiled while saying it, though, so she couldn’t be too angry. “I _said_ ,” Flynn repeated, “look who’s sitting at the Gryffindor table.” She subtly nodded towards a blonde boy sitting on the other side of the room. “Your man.”

The boy in question was Nick, Gryffindor chaser, prefect, and the object of Julie’s affection for about a year now. It was a casual crush, but it was one of the longest ones she ever had. She couldn’t help the way she got lost in his pretty blue eyes. They had only ever interacted, like, three times, but that was enough for Julie to develop feelings.

Unfortunately, he was currently occupied by another girl in his lap. “He’s not my man. He’s Carrie’s man,” Julie said. That was obvious by the major display of PDA that was going on; they were kissing pretty heavily at this point. 

“For now…” Flynn offered.

“Probably forever.”

Flynn sighed. “Honestly, you’re probably right. She’s gotten her claws sunk in pretty good there.” She gagged when they pulled apart, Carrie’s giggle floating across the Great Hall. “The most you can hope for is a secret, torrid affair, hidden in broom closets.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Julie hit her on the arm lightly.

“Ha ha ha,” Julie said in a monotone voice, “Very funny Flynn.” She watched as Carrie wrapped her arms around his neck, peppering kisses on his face. Julie grimaced. “She’s not even supposed to be sitting at the Gryffindor table! She’s a Slytherin!”

Carrie’s green tie seemed not to matter, as no one made an effort to get her to go to her own table. Flynn took her wand out from behind her ear and started twirling it between her fingers. “For the record, I think if anyone could separate those two, it would be you.” Julie snorted, shaking her head. Yeah, right. As if Nick would pick Julie, a girl he’s talked to maybe three times, over his girlfriend.

Not wanting to dwell on her pipe dream crush, Julie changed the subject. “I missed you this summer,” Julie sighed, wrapping an arm around her best friend. Flynn rested her head on her shoulder, leaning close to her.

“I missed you more!” her best friend responded. “Three weekend visits were not nearly enough.” She hesitated for a moment, picking up her head off Julie’s shoulder and turning to look at her. “How are you doing after… everything that happened?”

Julie’s heart seemed to pound in her chest. Before she could even think of how to answer that, a loud clanging resonated around the room. She turned to the front of the room, where Headmistress Lessa was clanking a fork against her glass. She stood at the podium, beginning her “start of term” speech.

Julie gave Flynn a quick shrug in response to her question, then turned towards the front of the room again to listen to the speech. For once, she was glad to have her conversation interrupted.

The speech was pretty much the same as every year. A general welcome was issued, the first years were sorted, they gave the usual warnings. No trespassing in the Forbidden Forrest, watch out for the moving staircases, blah blah blah. There was one thing, though, that was different:

Headmistress Lessa’s voice seemed to get more serious. “Now it has come to our attention that there have been an increased number of dark wizard attacks over the summer.”

Murmurs broke out amongst the student body. It seemed like everyone in the Great Hall turned to look at Julie. Great. This was what she wanted to avoid. It was no secret in the wizarding community what had happened this summer, and she had been naïve to think that she could go through this year without talking about what had happened.

The headmistress continued, unwavering. “We do not know who is behind them but let us be very clear: you are safe at Hogwarts.” She stated firmly. Her eyes seemed to find Julie’s in the crowd. That almost made it worse. “We are increasing security tenfold. Due to these threats, Hogsmeade visits will be limited to fifth years and above. I know this is disappointing for third and fourth years, but it is of upmost importance that we keep everyone safe.” Julie tore her eyes away from the headmistress, looking anywhere but at her.

* * *

On the other side of the hall at the Hufflepuff table, Luke looked around in confusion. Everyone’s eyes seemed to be glued to the Ravenclaw table, specifically to Julie Molina. He had never talked to her directly, but he knew of her. He looked around, lost; did he miss something? He didn’t get wind of much wizarding news when he lived in the Muggle world with his parents during the summer.

“Why is everyone staring at Julie?” He whispered to Alex, who was sitting across from him. The blonde tore his own gaze away from Julie to answer his friend.

“You don’t know?” Alex asked, his eyebrows furrowed. Luke shook his head.

Alex opened his mouth to answer, but Reggie, who was sitting next to him, beat him to the punch. “Her mom was the one who was killed in that dark wizard attack. The one at the beginning of summer,” he whispered, his eyes glued to Julie as well.

“Oh,” Luke breathed. He couldn’t even imagine… “That sucks,” he said, unable to find better words.

Alex shook his head. “Well, I’m sure she doesn’t appreciate people staring at her either, guys.” He said this a little louder, giving a pointed look to Reggie, who was blatantly gaping at her. Reggie looked away, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. A couple of other Hufflepuffs had heard as well and started looking away from her.

Luke, however, couldn’t stop looking at her. His eyes seemed glued to her eyes, her curly brown hair, her frown. She was sad, that much was obvious. But she was also captivating. There was something about her…

She looked away from the headmistress abruptly and her eyes met his accidentally. Heat flushed over his cheeks. Her eyes widened for a moment before looking down into her lap. Luke cleared his throat and shook his head, looking away as well. That was… awkward.

Headmistress Lessa changed the subject, and people slowly looked away from Julie, becoming engrossed about whatever she was announcing. The rest of the speech went along without a hitch. Before he knew it, she was making her closing remarks and the food was appearing on the table in front of them. A cheer went up from the students. 

Alex, Reggie, and Luke dived into the food. All three of them had always had voracious appetites. Chicken, stew, mashed potatoes, rolls as far as the eyes could see, all different types of jelly, green beans, sandwiches, meat pies; anything you could think of, it was on the table. 

Reggie picked up a huge piece of chicken with a grin on his face. “I love Hogwarts.”

“I can’t believe we’re already sixth years,” Alex chimed in, picking up a roll and putting it on his plate. 

“I know!” Reggie exclaimed through a mouthful of food, “I thought OWLs were actually going to kill us last year.”

Luke nodded in agreement and gestured for Alex to give him a roll. Alex dramatically threw a roll to Luke, who caught it successfully. _Thank you, Chaser reflexes_. “How are things with your ‘rents, Luke? Any better?” Alex asked carefully, starting to dig into his food as well.

The brunette put his roll down and sighed. “Worse. We had this huge blowout fight right before I left for school.” Luke didn’t like thinking about how he left things. It had been the worst fight to date. He picked up a huge scoop of mashed potatoes, hoping it would make him feel better.

Reggie winced. “Sorry, man.”

Luke shrugged. “It’s whatever. What about you Alex?”

“They’re ignoring me, as usual.” Alex sighed. Their relationship hadn’t been the best since Alex came out of the closet in third year. “Your parents still fighting, Reg?”

“Yup. They have separate bedrooms now.” Reggie said casually, taking another bite out of his chicken. That was a new development.

Luke took a drink out of his cup, then placed in on the table with a little more force than necessary. “Forget parents. Who needs them when we have each other?” He asked, nudging Reggie’s shoulder with his. Reggie nodded in agreement and Alex smiled at both of them.

“Secret squad hangout at 10 tonight?” Reggie asked hopefully, looking at his two best friends.

Their ‘secret squad hangouts’ had started in second year, when they had accidentally stumbled upon this weird room in the seventh-floor corridor. No one else seemed to notice it and it seemed to be soundproof, so it was the perfect place to get up to shenanigans. Not to mention that the room provided its own instruments, so they could jam out whenever they want to. One of the things that had always connected them was a love for music.

“You know it,” Luke responded. He turned to Alex. “You still have the cloak?” Alex’s returning grin gave him the answer he was looking for. 

* * *

Julie flopped onto her blue and bronze four-poster bed, sighing into her pillow. The whole staring debacle in the Great Hall had been the most embarrassing moment of her life. She figured that other people knew, but she didn’t want pity. They didn’t know what it was like to have your whole life turned upside down within the span of a moment. Her mom was just supposed to be going to work, a normal Monday, but-

She felt tears welling in her eyes but blinked them away. The Ravenclaw dorm room was quiet, almost too quiet. Everyone was asleep. Flynn was snoring softly from the bed next to her. Quietly, she grabbed her dream box from underneath her bed, opening it and pulling out the contents. She rifled through the papers before finding what she was looking for.

The handwritten sheet music was folded carefully. Julie looked at the title and smiled softly. She had found this song that her mom wrote for her in a box of her old things. She was saving it for a rainy day when she needed a pick-me-up, but… she was starting to think that day was today.

Making a decision, she grabbed her wand in one hand and the sheet music in the other. Creeping out of the dorm room and through the common room, she whispered “Lumos” when she reached the corridor. The tip of her wand lit up softly, covering her surroundings in a soft glow.

She made her way to the seventh floor, where she knew the frog choir music classroom was. Although she was never in the frog choir (she had a terrible fear of them), she had snuck out to use the piano in that room quite frequently over the course of her Hogwarts education.

As she approached the classroom, she looked around to make sure that no one had followed her. She went to turn the handle but found it to be locked. She jiggled it a little bit and tried again. Still nothing. “Alohomora,” she whispered and tried to turn the handle. She was still unsuccessful.

Sighing in defeat, she turned to go back to the Ravenclaw classroom. She passed this odd tapestry of a wizard trying to teach trolls ballet. _What if I tried incendio?_ She thought, turning to go back to the classroom. She walked for a few steps before shaking her head. _No, that won’t work. I don’t want to damage school property._ She turned back towards the common room and passed the odd tapestry again. She got another idea. _Maybe if I tried a charm of some kind? Or I transfigured something into a key?_ She turned to walk back towards the classroom again. After walking a few steps, she turned around and started walking the other direction, going back towards the Ravenclaw dorms. _No, that won’t work either._

She stopped in her tracks, staring blankly at the wall in front of her. _I’m being ridiculous. I just want somewhere I can play piano and sing._

The wall she was staring at slowly started to shift. She rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was hallucinating. An ornate door was revealed, almost calling to her. Her jaw dropped.

The Room of Requirement. This had to be it! She actually found it! A huge smile spread over her face. She thought it was just a rumor, but her mom had sworn to her it was real. She figured her mom had just been teasing her, but this felt like a sign. Like, from somewhere above, her mom had wanted her to play.

Walking up to the door and knocking lightly, she extinguished the light coming from her wand. Slowly, she pushed the door open. She thought she heard some shuffling noises and muffled voices coming from inside.

“Hello?” she called softly. “Anyone in here?”

Nothing answered her. She walked in, and the sight amazed her. A room full of all sorts of things. Heavy brooms were strewn about. There was a huge clock in one corner, ticking softly. Some old textbooks were strewn around on old pieces of furniture. Huge stacks of chairs. Many cupboards and china cabinets. And, of course, there were instruments. An ornately carved wooden piano sat in the middle of a bass, a guitar, and some drums that looked like they had been knocked over. This room had everything you could have ever thought of. 

Little did she know, she had just interrupted something. Alex, Reggie, and Luke were jamming on the instruments when they saw the door beginning to reappear. Thinking it might be a teacher, they panicked and hid beneath the cloak of invisibility they had used to get there.

“Is it just me or is this thing a little smaller than I remember?” Reggie whispered, squished against Luke’s shoulder. Luke shook with silent laughter. He supposed that the cloak had gotten a little too small for them to all fit comfortably. Alex was pressed up against his side, and put a finger to his lips, shaking his head.

Julie turned around, looking at the room. She thought she just heard- never mind. She was quickly distracted by the piano.

She took a seat on the smooth bench, opening the cover. She gently ran her fingers over the keys and let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. Unfolding the sheet music and laying it on the piano, she began the first notes.

The chords washed over the room, reverberating around the room. “ _Here's one thing I want you to know_ ,” Julie sang, letting her voice echo, “ _You got someplace to go_ ”. She continued the verse, becoming more and more confident as the song continued.

Luke, Reggie, and Alex were stunned by her voice. It was warm, vibrant. Nothing like the girl they saw in the Great Hall. Luke’s eyes were glued to the movement of her hands, nearly effortless over the keys. By the time she got to the chorus, Luke was convinced she was the most talented person he had ever seen.

“She’s really good!” Reggie whispered, a little too loudly. Julie’s playing stopped abruptly. She looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.

She closed the cover of the piano quickly. “Hello? Who’s there?”

Shoot. They were caught. Luke gestured toward the door with his head and his two best friends nodded. They tried to shuffle towards the door but ended up tripping over each other.

They all tumbled out from beneath the invisibility cloak, appearing out of thin air. Julie screeched, falling backward off the piano bench. She sent a body bind curse in their general direction, not seeing who it was.

Luke scrambled to his feet and held his hands up in surrender. “Woah! It’s just us!” he said, coming into her line of sight. She sat up from where she had fallen off the bench, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment. 

“What are you guys doing in here?” she spluttered. Luke offered her a hand, but she batted in away, standing up herself.

“It’s kind of our secret hangout place,” Alex explained. The blonde came to stand by Luke’s side, brushing dust off his knees from where he had fallen. He offered Julie a smile, but she was not having it.

“Your hangout place is the _Room of Requirement_?” she asked incredulously. They were using Hogwarts’s best-kept secret as a glorified clubhouse. Of course they were. 

Reggie tilted his head in confusion. “What’s that?”

And they didn’t even know what a big deal this was. She opened her mouth to explain it, but decided it wasn’t worth it. “Never mind,” she mumbled, looking away.

Luke took a step closer to her, looking at her curiously. “What are you doing here?” He asked back at her.

She shrugged. “I don’t know, the castle just… showed me this door.”

There was an awkward silence for a moment. Alex stood in front of Luke, extending a hand. “I’m Alex, by the way.” She shook his hand hesitantly. He gestured to his right side. “This is Reggie.” Reggie gave a cheery wave. “And-”

He was cut off. “I’m Luke.” The brunette interrupted, stepping in front of the blonde. He held out his hand. Julie shook it. When their hands connected, it felt like all of the cells in her hand were about to spontaneously combust. _Weird._ Alex and Reggie shared a look behind him.

“Yeah… I know.” She snorted. Like she wouldn’t know who they were. “I’m Julie.”

“I know,” Luke responded, mirroring her tone. That actually did surprise her.

“What were you playing? It was really good,” Alex asked, picking up his drumsticks from their place on the floor and fixing the drum he had knocked over earlier in his haste to get under the invisibility cloak.

Julie waved her hand. “Oh, nothing. Just…” she hesitated, not wanting to make the mood weird, “something my mom wrote.”

Alex nodded, looking at the sheet music. “It sounded beautiful,” he said sincerely, giving her a smile. Reggie and Luke nodded in agreement.

She smiled back, relieved that none of the guys were being weird about it. The last thing she wanted right now was false sympathy or pity. “Thanks.” She looked around at the room. “What do you guys even do in here anyway?” she asked. “Why don’t you just hang out in your common room?”

Reggie picked up the bass from the floor and played a quick riff. “This room is soundproof, and it’s got, like, every instrument under the sun.” Alex played a loud bass note on the drum. It reverberated around the room. “Plus, the acoustics are amazing.”

“You guys come here to play?”

Luke grinned at her, picking up the guitar. He took a pick out of his back pocket. “Yeah! Wanna hear?” He raised an eyebrow. She nodded.

Alex counted them in… 1, 2, 3!

Luke played a guitar riff before Alex came in with heavy drums. Reggie followed with heavy bass, picking up the tempo. After a measure, Luke came in with some vocals: “ _Take off, last stop, countdown till we blast open the top_ ,” He sang. They played through the first verse and a little bit of the chorus.

Julie was surprised. They were all really good. Like, good enough to make a career out of it if they wanted to. Now that Julie was watching them, she supposed they did look like a muggle rock band a little bit.

They stopped playing after the first chorus, music fading out. Luke raised an eyebrow at her as if to ask her what she thought. “You guys are pretty good,” she conceded, taking a seat on the piano bench again.

Luke scoffed. “ _Pretty_ good?”

“Well, you’re missing keys,” she said, stating the obvious. “And you could use some more harmony.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Oh yeah? Well why don’t you-”

A huge _CRASH_ cut Luke off, coming from the back of the room. Everyone froze for a minute. Another huge _BANG!_ followed, enough to make them all leap to their feet. It was coming from a vanishing cabinet in the very back corner of the room. The door on the vanishing cabinet swung open violently.

“Everyone hide!” Alex whisper-shouted, ducking behind a wardrobe. Reggie dove beneath a stack of chairs that was tilting haphazardly. Julie looked around frantically. Where could she hide?

Something grabbed her wrist and pulled her in between a large cupboard and a china cabinet. She almost yelled, but a hand covered her mouth. Once she saw it was Luke, she let out a sigh of relief. They were standing chest to chest, hiding from whoever was coming their way.

Although Julie couldn’t see anything, she heard two sets of footsteps walk past their hiding spot. “We finally did it!” A deep, raspy voice exclaimed. “We got through the vanishing cabinet!”

Luke peeked around the corner, trying to see who it might be. He caught sight of a dark mask. His face went pale and his mouth set in a firm line. Only one kind of wizard wore a mask like that. _Who?_ Julie mouthed. Luke mouthed back her worst fear. _Dark wizards._

Julie’s hands started shaking. She gripped her wand so hard that her hand was turning white. So many questions ran through her mind at a mile a minute. _Were these the same dark wizards who killed her mom? Did they know who did? Why were they doing this?_

Another voice spoke out, this one higher and more nasal. “This will be the perfect passage to get our members in and out. Covington will be pleased with this news,” The voice affirmed.

Julie had heard that name before. _Covington…_ Where had she heard that name before?

A sudden clatter broke Julie out of her thoughts. The pile of chairs that Reggie had been hiding under had fallen over, revealing his presence to the pair of dark wizards. Julie gasped.

He sat on the ground awkwardly for a moment. “Uh… hello!” He said, giving a wave to the dark wizards. They weren’t very receptive of that, but he had the element of surprise on his hands. He darted away, running further back into the Room of Requirement.

“Get him!” the one with the gruff voice yelled. “AVADA KEDAVRA!”

A jet of green light narrowly missed Reggie’s head. It hit the wall right next to him. He let out a yelp of surprise and covered his head with his arms as chunks of the wall rained around him.

Julie couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. She jumped out from her hiding place and pointed her wand at the wizard who had just tried to kill Reggie. “STUPEFY!” She yelled, the spell hitting him square in the back. He was blasted into a stack of textbooks and other trinkets.

This caught the attention of the other dark wizard, who rounded on Julie. “CRUCIO,” they bellowed, narrowly missing. Julie sent back a body-bind hex, which also missed and struck a pile of furniture. The dark wizard saw an opening and got closer to her, raising their wand to attack.

Luke came in from the left before they could, shouting “EXPELIARMUS!” Their wand flew into the air and Alex caught it from the other side of the room, leaving his hiding spot.

The gruff-voiced wizard was recovering from his earlier blow, standing up and stumbling over to the other one. In once, smooth movement, Julie hit them both with a body-bind curse. “Petrificus Totalus” she cursed, causing them both to fall over, unable to move.

“What in the actual hell just happened?” Reggie gasped, coming out from the back of the room where he was hiding. Alex came over to them, carrying the wand of the dark wizard they disarmed. He reached over and grabbed the other one’s wand too, making sure they couldn’t attack them again.

“Go get Headmistress Lessa,” Julie said frantically, keeping her wands pointed at the incapacitated wizards. Luke nodded to Reggie and Alex, who ran out to go find her. Luke stayed with Julie, whose hands were still shaking. He put a hand on her shoulder.

“You okay?” He asked, not taking his eyes off the dark wizards in their body bind.

“Not really,” she answered truthfully.

After a few moments, Headmistress Lessa ran in frantically, dressed in a long nightgown and robe. Alex, Reggie, and the Transfiguration professor, Professor Harrington, were right behind her. “What on earth happened in here?” she questioned shrilly, looking around at the scene before her.

“We don’t know,” Luke said truthfully. “We accidentally stumbled upon this room and when we came in, there were two dark wizards coming out of that thing.” He didn’t tell the full truth, but it was close enough. He looked at Julie next to him, who still hadn’t taken her eyes off of the dark wizards.

Headmistress Lessa took her wand out of her sleeve. “Professor Harrison, please deal with the removal of the broken vanishing cabinet.” She gestured over to the vanishing cabinet that had caused the intrusion. “I guess it’s not so broken, as of now.” She nodded to Professor Harrison, who walked over to the vanishing cabinet and sealed it with a wave of her wand. With another flourish of her wand, the vanishing cabinet disappeared, most likely transported to a different location.

“As for you four…” the headmistress turned towards the four students, “You were very lucky tonight. I’m not going to ask any more questions, just get yourselves back to bed.” She commanded. Julie breathed a sigh of relief. She thought for sure they would be put in detention, or at least get house points docked.

Alex put a hand on her shoulder and started guiding her towards the door. She tore her gaze away from the sight of the dark wizards lying on the floor. She hadn’t even realized that they were starting to leave. She felt frozen in time, like everything was moving too fast around her. As the four students opened the door, the headmistress called out. “And do NOT tell anyone what happened here tonight. The last thing we need is a full-blown panic on our hands.”

“Yes, Headmistress Lessa.” The boys responded. Julie opened her mouth to respond, but no sound came out. She just nodded.

All four students walked out of the Room of Requirement and into the corridor. Reggie took out his wand and cast “Lumos,”, providing them a little bit of light. Alex’s hand was still on Julie’s shoulder. Her mind was still spinning: _Who were they? Why were they here? Who was Covington?_

“C’mon, we’ll walk you back to your dorm,” Alex said gently.

“Thanks.” She responded quietly. Usually, she would insist on going by herself, but she didn’t really want to be alone right now.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Luke let out a breath. “That was some crazy shit.” He started fiddling with his tie, undoing it completely. 

“Yeah. I literally almost died tonight,” Reggie added, shuddering as he replayed the flashing green light that had nearly hit him. He looked over at Julie, giving her an appreciative smile. “You saved my life, Julie.”

She smiled at him softly. “You guys saved mine too.” A moment of understanding passed between all four of them.

Something felt different after tonight. Maybe it was the shared experience of almost dying, but Julie had the feeling that she was going to be seeing a lot more of the guys after this. After all, you couldn’t go through a near death experience and not be connected to each other in some way.

Luke cleared his throat. “We would love to play music with you, sometime. If you’re interested. You were right, we could use some keys in our music.” A thought crossed his mind. “Not that you have to of course! We could just hang out…?” He trailed off. He was talking too much.

This made Julie chuckle. “For sure. You guys are… kinda cool,” she admitted. All three of the guys grinned. “Don’t let it get to your heads, though.”

“Too late,” Luke said.

Reggie nodded. “Our egos are huge now.”

“So big,” Alex added.

They climbed the staircase to the top of the tallest tower, where the entrance to the common room sat. “This is me,” Julie said. She turned back to the guys, giving them a small wave. “Goodnight, guys.”

“Goodnight Julie.” They echoed. The door asked her a riddle for entry, which she answered the riddle quickly. She gave them one last glance before closing the door with a soft thud.

She leaned back against the door and let out a sigh. So much had happened tonight that she didn’t even know where to begin when processing everything. But there was one thing she was certain of:

It was about to be one hell of a year.


	2. Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quidditch, Carrie, and Alex meets Willie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi! Hope you enjoy this next chapter :) also i literally LOVE reading all your guys comments YALL INSPIRE ME SO MUCH

Julie didn’t think she’d ever been this tired in her whole life.

After the whole dark wizard debacle in the Room of Requirement, she tossed and turned all night in her bed. She couldn’t stop her mind from racing or her heart from pounding. And when sleep did come, it was full of nightmares. By the time morning had come, it felt like she had not gotten any rest at all.

She yawned and rubbed her eyes as she stumbled to the Ravenclaw table. Flynn was already there, always the early riser. Julie plopped down next to her, groaning and putting her head in her arms on the table. Everything was too bright this morning.

Flynn said nothing, only chuckled and put a couple of pieces of toast onto Julie’s plate. 

“Rough night?” Flynn asked, giving Julie a look.

She peeled her head off her arms and looked at Flynn. She tried to form words, but all that came out was “Mmphhrggg”. She took the piece of toast off her plate and chewed it slowly, trying to clear the sleepiness from her mind.

Flynn flipper her box braids over her shoulder. “Any reason in particular that you look like a zombie?” She asked, reaching over and smoothing down Julie’s frizzed out curls. She had a major case of bedhead this morning. 

Oh. Julie almost completely forgot; Flynn had absolutely no idea what had happened last night. She’d been well asleep by the time she snuck out and was still sleeping soundly when she crept back into the dormitory late into the night. She had always been an especially heavy sleeper. Julie opened her mouth to fill her in on the events from the night before but was interrupted by someone sliding in next to her at the table.

“Good morning, Jules,” Reggie said cheerfully, reaching over her to grab some eggs. “Is it okay if I call you Jules?”

Julie snorted. “No,” she answered firmly, slapping his hand when it tried to steal the extra piece of toast on her plate.

Flynn’s jaw dropped. What the actual hell was happening? How was Julie suddenly buddy-buddy with one of the most popular guys in school?

To add to her confusion, Alex sat down across from them casually, as if he did this every day. He gave Julie a quick greeting and started filling up his plate. If it was possible for Flynn’s jaw to drop any more, it would have.

Reggie was still attempting to find a nickname. “Jularina?” he proposed.

“No!”

“Juju?”

Julie took out her wand from her sleeve and pointed it at his chin threateningly. “Call me that and I’ll bat-bogey hex you. Don’t test me.” Luke came over at this exact moment and laughed, taking a seat next to Alex. They shared a quick fist bump.

Reggie swallowed. “Yes ma’am!” he said, his voice cracking.

Deciding it was time to get answers, Flynn interrupted. “Uh, what is going on here?” she questioned, her eyebrows raised.

Julie grinned. Even though she knew that Flynn knew who they were, she still wanted to introduce them. “Flynn, meet Luke, Alex, and Reggie.”

Luke gave her a head nod. “Sup”

“Hey!” Alex waved cheerfully, a smile on his face.

“Howdy,” Reggie greeted, because he was weird like that.

Flynn still couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. “What the hell did I miss last night?” She asked incredulously. They all shared a look and burst out into laughter.

“So much,” Julie answered, and started to fill her in on the events of last night. 

* * *

The sun was shining on the Quidditch pitch. The green of the grass seeming especially bright today. Luke took a deep breath, breathing in the smell of the freshly mowed lawn. He couldn’t stop his grin as he looked out at the gaggle of Quidditch hopefuls who were mingling in the middle of the pitch. They were all chatting among themselves.

“Good morning potential recruits!” He said, walking over to the group. They all straightened up, wanting to give a good impression.

“Good morning captain!” they answered.

He pointed over to the far end of the pitch. “I want chasers over here, seekers over here, beaters here and keepers there, alright?” he said, pointing to various places on the field. “Try to keep to this side of the pitch. We’ll be sharing the field with Gryffindor while they hold their tryouts as well.”

While this wasn’t optimal, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain had approached him in panic and asked to split the field because no other time worked for her besides the time he had already reserved. While he couldn’t change the date, he didn’t mind sharing the pitch. Besides, he was curious to see how the competition would match up.

“Everyone line up!” He shouted to the recruits from the midline. They all shuffled into lines. Luke grinned. Time for the fun part. “Let’s begin!”

* * *

Julie wandered into the stands on the Quidditch pitch, trying to find Alex and Reggie. All three of them had promised to come to Luke’s tryouts. She wasn’t really sure why Luke wanted her, a Ravenclaw, at Hufflepuff Quidditch tryouts, but she figured she would be there if he wanted her there. That’s what friends were for, right?

She was a little bit late. The Hufflepuffs were well into their tryouts. It seemed like there were many promising players; Luke was watching the recruits with a satisfied look. She noticed that the Gryffindor team was holding their tryouts at the opposite end of the pitch. Their tryouts were not going as well; many of their recruits were inexperienced second and third years.

She caught sight of Nick with the Gryffindor team, his golden hair glinting in the sun. She allowed herself one moment to look at him but looked away quickly. There was no need for her to torture herself.

There were so many people in the stands it a struggle to find the other two boys. She looked over the crowd of students, looking for a glimpse of where Reggie or Alex could be.

Unfortunately, she ran into the one person she didn’t want to see.

Carrie stepped right in front of her, crossing her arms and looking at her like she was an old moldy grape someone had left out in the sun. “Trying to catch a glimpse of my man, Molina?” she sneered, her pretty features twisting upon her face.

She honestly hadn’t even known that Gryffindor was splitting the pitch with Hufflepuff for tryouts. She rolled her eyes. “Go away, Carrie.”

“Or are you here to ogle the Hufflepuffs?” She asked patronizingly. “That’s so cute. Which one? Ben?” She pointed to a boy with glasses and spiked up hair. “Elijah?” she guessed, pointing to a boy who was currently throwing a quaffle on the field. Then, Carrie gasped in fake surprise. “No wait… is it Luke?” she questioned, letting out a mean laugh.

The tips of Julie’s ears turned pink. “Shut up, Carrie.” She looked over at Luke. It looked like the tryouts were wrapping up. He seemed to be giving a final speech to his recruits, gesturing wildly with his hands.

She grinned victoriously, like a predator over prey. “So it is Luke. Aw, your little crush is so cute,” she teased meanly. “As if he would ever go for someone like you.”

“We’re friends.” Julie snapped, twisting her wand between her fingers. “I’m just here to cheer him on.”

Carrie tossed her hair over her shoulder and scoffed. “As if he would be friends with you.”

Julie shook her head and gave the other girl a tight smile. “You’re always a peach, Carrie.”

“Whatever.” Carrie stepped closer, her hand grabbing onto Julie’s wrist. Her perfectly manicured nails dug into Julie’s skin. “Keep your eyes off my man, got it?” she threatened lowly, her eyes glaring into Julie’s.

“Julie! Come over here!” A voice called. She looked around to see who had called her and then spotted him. Alex. He and Reggie were in the front row, closest to the pitch. He was waving her over giving her a huge smile. Luke was hovering on his broom right by them, tryouts having wrapped up.

Nothing was more satisfying than seeing Carrie’s jaw drop in shock. “Wha- B-but-” she stuttered, unable to form a comeback.

A triumphant smile crossed Julie’s face. She tore her arm out of Carrie’s grip. “Gotta go. See you around, Carrie.” She turned away and started walking towards the boys.

From behind her, she heard Carrie let out a noise of frustration. Julie grinned. _Checkmate._

She made her way over to the guys at the front of the stands. “What was that all about?” Alex asked in confusion as she approached them.

Julie rubbed her arm where Carrie had gripped her and dug her nails in. “Just Carrie being… Carrie.” She answered cryptically. The other girl had been giving her trouble ever since third year. It’s hard to think that, at one point, they were best friends. But that was ancient history, even if it did bother Julie that she never quite knew why Carrie stopped being her friend.

A dark look crossed Luke’s face. “She’s not giving you trouble, is she?” he asked, shooting a glare over in Carrie’s direction. She wasn’t looking at them, her eyes glued instead to her Gryffindor chaser boyfriend.

Julie let out a huff of amusement. “Nothing I can’t handle, killer,” she teased. The idea of Luke confronting Carrie was just too funny. “Great job with tryouts, by the way,” she added, “Your team looks great. You’ll beat Gryffindor for sure.”

Luke gave her a hopeful look. “You think?”

“I know.”

He smiled. “Well, we don’t play them until later in the season anyway.”

Out of nowhere, a figure in a red and scarlet uniform flew over in their direction. Nick. Julie’s heart stuttered in her chest. “Hey Julie!” He called out, coming to a hover right next to Luke. The Hufflepuff chaser eyed him suspiciously.

“Oh, hey Nick.” Julie tried to say casually, tucking a curl behind her ear. Inside, she was screaming. _Why was he talking to her? Oh, Carrie was really going to murder her now._

The Gryffindor chaser hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Listen, I-I’m really sorry about your mom.” He said sincerely.

Her heart dropped. More pity. Great. “Oh, it’s okay,” Julie said, giving him a small awkward smile. “Thanks,” She added. Silence fell over the group. Reggie and Alex were giving each other a look. Luke couldn’t stop staring at Nick with an expression she couldn’t quite place.

He opened his mouth to say something else, but someone yelled over, “NICK!” They turned to see the Gryffindor Quidditch captain waving her arms wildly, gesturing for him to return to the pitch.

“Gotta go. Bye.” He gave her a quick wave before gripping his broom and turning around, speeding off.

She waved weakly. “Bye,” she said, even though he was definitely too far away to hear her.

Alex laughed as soon as he was out of earshot. “That wasn’t awkward at all.” The other boys joined in on the laughter. Luke was laughing so hard that he almost fell off his broom.

Reggie joined in on the teasing. “You’re so red.” She slapped a hand against her cheek, which was warm to the touch.

“Shut up!” she grumbled, whacking him on the shoulder.

As the laughter died out, Luke spotted a team clad in silver and green walk onto the sideline of the pitch. He turned to his friends and nodded down towards them. “Listen, the Slytherin team has the pitch booked starting in like two minutes, so I have to wrap this up. Can you guys help me bring some of this stuff up to the Hufflepuff common room?” he asked, giving them his best puppy dog eyes.

Julie nodded. “Sure. What are friends for?”

“Aw, we’re officially friends!” Reggie exclaimed dopily, beaming. He ruffled Julie’s hair, making her curls stick up haphazardly.

“I saved your life, Reggie. I can un-save it.” Julie threatened, smacking his hand away from her hair and smoothing it down.

Alex laughed. He and Julie started walking to the exit of the stands, towards the pitch. Luke laughed as well, turning his broom towards the pitch where his gear sat. Reggie sat there thinking about it. “What does that even MEAN?!” he asked, running to catch up with Julie and Alex. Julie’s laugh echoed through the stands. 

They met Luke on the field and helped him gather his Quidditch gear. And man, was it heavy. Reggie and Luke both grabbed one end of his huge trunk full of Quidditch gear and started dragging it towards the Hufflepuff common room. Alex and Julie both shared a look before levitating the things they were carrying; a pile of brooms and spare quidditch uniforms, respectively.

They lugged the equipment through the castle and were nearly to the common room when Luke stopped walking abruptly. “Shoot,” he murmured, turning toward Alex and Julie. 

“What?” Alex asked.

“I forgot the quaffle on the pitch! And I have class in ten minutes!” He stressed, fumbling with the trunk in his hands.

Alex shook his head and smiled. “No worries, I’ll go get it. I don’t have class until ten.” Julie quickly took over levitating the quidditch uniforms he was previously levitating.

“You’re the best, man,” Luke breathed in relief, giving him an appreciative smile. Alex waved to his friends as he turned around and headed back down to the Quidditch pitch.

* * *

As Alex walked onto the Quidditch pitch, he looked up to see the Slytherin team flying above him. They were way high up in the air, so he wasn’t too concerned with getting in their way.

He looked around the perimeter of the pitch, wandering around. “Hmm… quaffle…” he murmured to himself, scanning the sidelines with his eyes. “If I were a quaffle, where would I be…”

“LOOK OUT!” someone yelled, but it was too late. Something made an impact with his back and knocked the wind out of his lungs, sending him crashing to the ground. Ouch. His ribs seemed to rattle in his chest.

Alex looked up at the sky for a second, gasping for breath. Something solid was laying on top of him, preventing him from getting up. He looked down to see a silver and green uniform, and lots of brown hair.

He didn’t really get a good look at who hit him before the person was scrambling off of him to get to their feet. “I’m so sorry, I totally didn’t see you there-” the person said, offering him a hand.

Alex took the hand and allowed the stranger to help him get to his feet. “How did you not…” Alex trailed off when he saw the face of who hit him.

He was… undoubtedly gorgeous. Probably the cutest guy he had ever seen. He had really nice brown eyes, the coolest hair, and those cheekbones and dimples… _Oh man, was it hot out here?_ Alex thought. The stranger flipped his hair a bit, moving it out of his face. Alex felt his heart stutter to his chest. 

“Uhhhh…” Alex said intelligently, unable to form a sentence.

The Slytherin looked at him with concern. “You okay? I didn’t give you a concussion, did I?”

“I-I’m okay,” Alex stuttered, running a hand through his hair nervously. He willed the blush to stay off of his face.

“I’m so sorry. I was practicing a Wronski Feint, you know the move where you dive towards the ground and then pull up, but my timing was all wrong.” The stranger said in a rush, picking up his broom from where it had crash-landed next to them. “I’m Willie, by the way. Slytherin seeker.” He held out his hand.

Alex smiled and shook his hand, trying to ignore the butterflies that were swarming in his stomach. _Be cool, Alex_. “Alex. Hufflepuff. Just a Hufflepuff, I don’t really know much about Quidditch,” he admitted. _Great. He’s gonna think you’re a massive loser now._

Willie looked him up and down, looking at him with a crooked grin. “I know. I can tell.”

“That obvious, huh?” Alex asked sheepishly. The fact that he lumbered onto the Quidditch pitch like an idiot in the middle of a tryout probably gave it away.

“Just a little,” the Slytherin admitted. “What brings you to Slytherin tryouts? Here to spy for the Hufflepuff team?”

Alex’s eyes widened. “No! Not at all!” he said, shaking his head.

“I’m just pulling your leg,” Willie laughed.

A flush broke out over Alex’s cheeks. _Right. Jokes._ “My friend, Luke, he’s the captain of the Hufflepuff team. He left his quaffle here, I was just getting it for him,” he explained.

“Oh, nice.” Willie looked around for a second before pointing behind Alex. “Is that it over there?”

Sure enough, a bright scarlet quaffle was sitting on the sidelines where Willie was pointing. “Must be. Thanks, Willie.” Alex gave him a smile.

“Anytime, Hufflepuff Alex,” Willie said, smiling back. Alex’s eyes were drawn to Willie’s like a moth to a flame. He had probably been staring for too long, but he didn’t even care at this point. 

A sharp whistle from above caught both their attention. The Slytherin Quidditch captain was looking at Willie with an incredulous expression, as to say _get your ass back up here_.

Willie mounted his broom. “I have to go. Catch you later, Alex.” He sent a wink his way and then kicked off, speeding into the air.

“Catch you later!” Alex called after him. He watched Willie’s figure soar into the air until it reached the rest of the Slytherin team.

The quaffle sat on the ground. Alex picked it up, spinning it in his hands. He took one last look at Willie before heading back inside the castle. There was only one thought on his mind as he walked back to the dormitory.

_Cute._

* * *

“Julie, you look like death,” Flynn stated, sliding into the seat next to her in the Divination classroom. She looked at her best friend thoughtfully. “I mean… considering you did almost die yesterday for real, you actually look pretty good.” 

The orb that was sat on the table between them swirled with dull grey fog. Julie caught sight of her reflection in the glass. She really did look tired. “I can’t stop thinking about it. I spent most of today searching for the name ‘Covington’ in the library and still nothing.”

“Sorry, Julie. I have no idea who that is.”

“I know I’ve heard it from somewhere, I just can’t remember where. DADA maybe? Or was it a book I read?” It was like the answer was on the tip of her tongue, she just couldn’t say it.

“Could have been History of Magic,” Flynn suggested.

“That too. I’ll have to go over my notes from last year.” That did not sound like a fun way to spend her evening. “Ugh.”

Flynn patted her shoulder comfortingly. “You’ll figure it out eventually.” 

Professor Ogra clapped her hands at the front of the classroom, her bangles clanking as she did so. Her thin, long black hair swayed as she moved to the front of the room. “Students! It is time to open your inner eye!” she announced dramatically, scanning the classroom with her eyes. “Grab your orbs and get ready for today’s reading.”

The class issued a collective groan. Professor Ogra took this stuff way too seriously. “Ready for another term of spiritual mumbo jumbo?” Flynn mumbled under her breath, looking at the orb skeptically.

For a moment, Julie thought she was hallucinating. The fog in the orb seemed to take the shape of an hourglass before disseminating back into shapeless forms. Julie rubbed her eyes but saw nothing.

“I don’t know, Flynn. Divination stuff feels more real than ever.” Julie said seriously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: More Willie, group bonding, and who is Covington?


	3. Investigation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe here's the third chapter. enjoy. Your guys's comments make my whole life by the way!!! Okay here's the chapter there's a lot going on here so bear with me.

Playing a Quidditch match in the pouring rain was not optimal. The rain was pelting Luke’s face hard; it felt like a million tiny pinpricks hitting his skin. The wind was whipping violently, jerking his broom around in the air. His hands were so cold they were probably turning blue under his leather Quidditch gloves.

But none of that mattered; Luke was in the zone. This was the first game of the season and he was determined to win. He had the quaffle in his hands and was racing down the pitch. The yellow and black of his Quidditch uniform seemed muted against the gray sky. Slytherin players swarmed around him like vultures, trying to steal the quaffle from out of his hands. He dodged them easily, swerving to the left and right. A bludger flew past his head, missing narrowly.

He was rapidly approaching the Slytherin hoops. He wound up, waiting for just the right moment, taking aim, and throwing the quaffle to the far-left hoop with all of his might. It slid past the fingers of the Slytherin keeper, going right through the hoop. Goal.

The Hufflepuff student section broke into thundering cheers. Luke grinned, scanning the crowd. He spotted his friends instantly.

“GO LUKE!” Alex, Reggie, and Julie yelled in tandem. They were all soaked from the rain but were grinning and waving their arms wildly. Reggie was wearing a huge, garishly yellow badger hat. Julie had borrowed one of Alex’s Hufflepuff sweaters, the sleeves way too long for her. Alex was throwing him a huge thumbs up. 

The voice of the student commentator echoed through the stands. “And that’s another 10 points for Hufflepuff thanks to their team captain! Luke’s really been on fire tonight. That brings the score to 200-20, with Hufflepuff managing an incredible lead.” 

Another loud roar broke out amongst the Hufflepuff student section. The Slytherin student section booed, trying to drown them out, but it was futile.

Out of the corner of his eye, Luke spotted the Slytherin seeker diving towards the ground. His brown hair whipped behind him. The Hufflepuff seeker, one of Luke’s newest recruits, was hot on his tail but was ultimately too late. The gold ball glinted in the palm of the Slytherin seeker.

“But what is this?” the announcer boomed, “Slytherin has caught the snitch! That brings them to a total of 170 points, not enough to beat Hufflepuff at 200 even! HUFFLEPUFF WINS!”

Luke let out a whoop, pumping his fist in the air. His teammates all flew to the middle of the pitch, embracing each other in the pouring rain.

* * *

Luke shook the rain out of his hair in the locker room, removing his Quidditch pads and putting them in his locker. He really couldn’t ask for a better start to the season. The challenging part was going to be keeping this momentum all the way through the year.

He spotted his new seeker, Charlie, sitting on a bench, his head in his hands. His form seemed dwarfed by the other passing Quidditch players in the locker room; faint sniffles were heard coming from his direction.

Charlie was the youngest player on the team by far. He was only a second year, but he had outflown all of the others during tryouts. He was a little rough around the edges, but his talent was obvious. Luke knew that after some training and a couple of years of experience, he would be the best seeker in the school.

“Hey, good job today,” Luke called over to him, giving him a smile. The second-year looked up, tears in his eyes.

“Thanks, but… I didn’t catch the snitch,” he sniffled, wiping his teary brown eyes with his sleeve.

Luke went over and sat next to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “But you were flying really well! And we haven’t had the chance to practice in the rain yet, so that’s something we can all work on together as the season goes on,” he reassured, patting him on the shoulder.

“Thanks, Luke.” He said quietly, giving him a small smile.

“No problem. If it makes you feel better, you did way better than I did during my first game,” Luke said, reminiscing. “I fell off my broom within the first five minutes of the game and broke my arm,” he confessed.

Charlie laughed; all trace of tears gone. “At least I didn’t break anything.”

“That’s the spirit!” Luke ruffled the younger boy’s brown hair, causing it to stick up. He got up off the bench and grabbed his Quidditch gear. “I’ll see you later!” He waved to the younger boy while exiting the locker room.

As he exited the locker room, he was enveloped a pair of arms. “Nice job, Luke! We knew you could do it!” Alex said, squeezing him tighter. Reggie and Julie also joined in on the group hug, wrapping their arms around Luke.

“See? I told you you’d win.” Julie said smugly, looking up at him and giving him a smile. Her smile was infectious.

“Alex!” someone called from down the corridor. It was the Slytherin seeker, someone Luke didn’t recognize. Once Alex saw who had called over to him, he smiled and walked over to them, greeting them with a fist bump.

Huh. Alex must have made a new friend. Interesting. Based on the way Alex lit up when the Slytherin called his name, Luke thought that it could be something a little bit more than friendship.

The thought that Alex might have a crush on someone was honestly kind of exciting. While Reggie fell in love with nearly everyone who talked to him and Luke had definitely had his fair share of girlfriends, Alex didn’t. Luke had a feeling that Alex was a one-man type of guy; whenever the blonde fell in love with someone, he would fall hard and for a long time.

Luke turned back to Reggie and Julie to give Alex his privacy. He quickly launched into a detailed story of scoring the final goal in the pouring rain.

* * *

As Alex walked over to Willie at the end of the hallway, he noticed the seeker’s hair was still damp from the rain and curling a bit at the ends. His cheeks were flushed from the cold. He was carrying his broom in one hand and a bag in the other. Alex didn’t understand how Willie could look so good after playing for nearly an hour and a half in the pouring rain.

“Hey, Willie. Good game.” He said, giving him a fist bump as he approached. Willie grinned and returned the gesture. “Sorry you didn’t win,” Alex added.

Willie shrugged, not looking too beat up about it. “That’s alright. We’ll get you guys next time,” he said, slinging his broom over his shoulder. “That is, if our keeper can start blocking your guys’ shots. Luke is one hell of a chaser.” 

Now that they were face to face, Alex noticed that he had cut his upper lip during the game. It was still bleeding a little bit.

“You okay? That looks like a nasty cut.” Alex said, leaning in to get a better look. He took out his wand. “Here. Episky,” Alex said, waving his wand and pointing it at Willie’s lip. The cut started to heal itself until it was a thin scab.

After the cut had healed, Alex realized that he was standing way closer to Willie than he had thought. Willie was looking up at him with an odd expression on his face. Alex cleared his throat and stepped backward, running a hand through his hair nervously.

“Thanks,” Willie said, touching the thin scab on his lip. “You have to promise to come to the next Slytherin game so I can redeem myself, okay? I can’t have you thinking that Slytherin is a losing team.”

Alex couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face. If Willie personally wanted him there, then he wouldn’t miss it. “I’ll be there.”

“Good.” Willie shivered, the rain chilling him to the bone. “Well, I better go dry off so I don’t catch a cold.”

“That’s probably smart,” Alex agreed. He was starting to get quite cold himself.

“You should do the same. Don’t want Hufflepuff’s best prefect getting sick.” Willie teased, tapping the prefect badge that was pinned on his chest. Alex hoped he couldn’t feel the rapid beat of his heart. The brunette shot him one last grin before he turned around and started walking down the hallway. “Catch you later, Alex,” he called over his shoulder, giving a wave.

Alex watched him go, letting out a sigh. He was probably getting himself worked up over nothing. He didn’t even know if Willie would be into him, you know, like that. He probably just thought they were bros. _I can be a bro,_ Alex thought. _Just bros being bros. Dudes being dudes. Dudes romantically starting into each other’s eyes. Dudes holding hands and smiling with cute dimples and- NO!_ Alex shook his head. _Bad Alex._

“Who was that?” Julie asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. Her, Luke, and Reggie had wandered over to where he was standing.

“Uh, a new friend. Willie. Slytherin seeker.”

Reggie patted him on the back. “Aw, Alex! I didn’t know you could make friends!” he said with false sweetness, batting his eyelashes.

The prefect pushed his best friend in response. Reggie laughed.

* * *

It was way past library hours, but that wasn’t going to stop Julie from searching the library for more information about Covington. She was supposed to meet the guys in the Room of Requirement a half-hour ago, but she was on a roll. Over the past week, it seemed like she had read nearly every book in the library; she stayed up late every night and woke up early every morning to read and scour the shelves for books she had missed.

She had checked out every book she had read over the last three years, scanning them from cover to cover. Her eyes were absolutely exhausted and there was still no sign she was getting any closer to answers than she had been before.

The lack of sleep was starting to catch up to her. She stretched her arms and yawned, accidentally knocking over the lantern she had brought for light. It cracked and rolled under the nearest shelf. Just her luck. She stuck her hand underneath the shelf, looking for the lantern, but instead coming into contact with something else.

Puzzled, Julie grabbed it and pulled it out. It was a book titled “Dark Wizards of the Last Century”. The cover was black and ornate and covered in dust, so it must have been stuck back here for quite some time. The book looked… sort of familiar.

Then, it hit her; this book _was_ familiar. She had checked it out three years ago for an extra credit assignment for Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Blowing the dust off it, she placed the hardcover book on the table.

“Lumos,” she whispered, giving her some light. Then, she began to read.

* * *

Julie burst into the Room of Requirement, her wand in one hand and the dusty book in the other. Music echoed through the room, the guys jamming and improvising together. “GUYS!” she shouted, slamming the door behind her in a flurry. They stopped playing immediately. She ran over to a nearby table, putting the book on it and flipping through the pages frantically.

“Julie, you finally made it!” Luke greeted, but it was like she couldn’t even hear him. She was too focused.

Alex immediately picked up on her serious mood. “What’s up?” He asked, putting his drum sticks down and standing up from his seated position behind the snare.

“Do you remember the night we got attacked?” She asked, still flipping pages frantically.

Reggie followed suit, putting his bass down. “Yeah, kinda hard to forget that-” he said.

“The dark wizards that attacked us, they said they were reporting back to someone named Covington, remember?” she said hurriedly, hoping to jog their memory. They all nodded in agreement; they remembered. “I thought I had heard it before, and it turns out… I had.”

She finally found the page she was looking for, pointing to one section in particular. She paraphrased from the section, remembering what she had read in the library. “Covington was a dark wizard of great renown who died over 100 years ago. His whole thing was stealing people’s souls and having them work for him as his ghost army. The reason he was so powerful was because he had ghosts spying for him literally everywhere, feeding him information and secrets. He owned them.” 

A heavy silence passed over the group. “That’s creepy,” Luke shuttered. “But if he died 100 years ago… then that’s it, right? I mean, it can’t be him… can it?” he questioned warily, looking over at Julie.

She flipped the page and pointed to another section of the book to answer his question. Alex leaned over and read the passage straight off the page: “There are rumors that his ghostly self is still floating around to this day,” he read, “waiting to return to his body and raise his ghostly army once more.”

A heavy silence passed over the group.

They let the news settle in. If this information was right, then the whole wizarding world could be in danger. Julie closed the book and sucked in a breath. “So, what do we do?” she asked, turning to face the guys.

Luke’s jaw clenched, his expression darkening. “There’s not really much we can do. We’re a group of underaged wizards with no information and no plan,” he said wearily.

Panic rose in Julie’s throat. _That can’t be true_. She rounded on him, eyes flashing dangerously. “We can’t just sit here and do nothing!” She exploded, her emotions welling in her chest.

The guys all looked at her concernedly. Julie was quick to calm down, realizing that she overreacted. She covered her mouth with her hand, her expression horrified. She had never let her emotions get the better of her like that before. “Julie-” Luke started but was interrupted.

“I- I’m sorry,” she apologized, removing her hand from her mouth. She took a shaky breath. “I just hate feeling so… so helpless.” She feels the exact same way she did when her mom died; small and scared and weak. “What if someone else dies because we didn’t do anything?” her last statement came out almost as a whisper, her eyes glazing over.

The three boys looked at each other, a moment of silent communication between them. Julie was more haunted by her mother’s death than they had originally realized. That, and they were going to do everything in their power to make sure nothing like that ever happened to her again.

“We won’t let anyone else get killed,” Luke reassured, his eyes meeting hers in a silent promise. “You can go tell Headmistress Lessa first thing tomorrow morning, okay? But right now, you need to take a deep breath.”

She nodded, releasing the tension in her shoulders. “Okay.” The weeks’ worth of missing sleep was starting to catch up with her.

Luke was the first to pull her into a hug. Reggie and Alex quickly joined in, wrapping her in a warm embrace. “We have your back, Julie,” Luke said. Reggie and Alex murmured their agreements, squeezing her tighter. They didn’t let go for a long time.

* * *

_Alright, Julie. You got this. The headmistress will know exactly what to do. She’s one of the most powerful witches alive, she’ll fix this._

Julie wrapped her knuckles against the headmistress’s door softly, the morning light peeking in through the small window next to her. _Knock knock knock._ There was no response. Plucking up her courage, she walked into the large round office. Headmistress Lessa was sitting at her desk, focused on writing something with a large quill. She was so focused on what she was writing that Julie doubted that she had even heard her come in. She stood there awkwardly for a moment before breaking the silence.

“Can I speak to you, please?” Julie asked, finally catching the headmistress’s attention. Headmistress Lessa looked up, almost in surprise.

She smiled at her student. “Julie!” She put away whatever she was writing and turned to the Ravenclaw. “Of course. Sorry about that. Take a seat,” she said, gesturing to the chair in front of her. Julie pulled out the chair and sat down across from the headmistress. “Now, what is it you have to talk to me about?”

How could she even start this without sounding crazy? Best to start at the beginning. Julie opened her mouth to start recounting what she heard that night in the Room of Requirement. “I-” she started, but something on the headmistress’s desk caught her eye.

A small golden beetle statue sat on her desk, glinting in the light. It was a statue she had seen before on the shelves of Weasley Wizard Wheezes; it was a surveillance device, meant to secretively release small bugs that could relay conversations over large distances. The small bugs were able to hide in plain sight. They were supposed to be used for pranks, to get juicy secrets and spy on your friends for fun. Why would something like this be on her desk?

This could only mean one thing; someone was keeping tabs on every interaction she had. And she was willing to bet that someone was Covington.

If this really was a surveillance device and Covington really was the one who put it there, then they were in deeper trouble than she originally thought. Julie had never wanted more in her life to be wrong about something.

The headmistress waited for her to continue for a moment. “Yes?” she asked when Julie didn’t continue.

Julie proceeded carefully. “What a lovely beetle statue that is.”

“Why, thank you!” The headmistress said, unaware of the statue’s true function. “A student gave it to me last night. Isn’t it lovely?” She adjusted the statue on her desk so that Julie could get a better look.

The Ravenclaw nodded, eyeing the statue warily. “Y-Yes.” If the statue had been there all night, it could have released hundreds of bugs already. They would be all around the castle by now. There was no way that Headmistress Lessa knew it was a recording device; she would have gotten rid of it immediately. Should she tell her? Would attacks increase if Covington knew they were on to them? Was Hogwarts safe anymore? A million questions were racing through her mind.

“Now, what is it you wanted to talk about?”

“U-Uh… I just wanted… Ummmm…” Julie stalled, unsure what to do. If she told Headmistress Lessa the truth and someone got hurt because of it, she would never forgive herself. “Career advice!” she blurted, saying the first thing that came to mind. For now, it was not safe to tell the headmistress what was going on. She would keep this to herself.

Headmistress Lessa raised an eyebrow. “Career advice?”

“Yes!” Julie affirmed, making stuff up off the top of her head. “Since you are, you know, so wise and all, I just wanted to ask you what you think my talents are suited for… in the professional world…?” she lied, her voice trailing up awkwardly at the end. She sounded weird and stiff, even to her own ears.

To her relief, the headmistress was oblivious to her lie. She just gave her a smile and clapped her hands in front of her. “I’m so glad you asked, Julie!” she responded enthusiastically. After a moment’s thought, she answered. “I always thought you would make a wonderful Auror.”

Julie internally screamed. If there was one career path she was sure that she did not want, it was an Auror. Not that there was anything wrong with being an Auror, she just didn’t have the stomach for the constant stress of the job.

“Oh, wow. Me? An Auror?” She asked, trying to sound awed. It came out a little too dramatic to be genuine. Julie had always been a terrible liar. “That’s crazy. I mean not crazy, that’s cool!” she corrected. “Maybe I’ll consider that.” This was so awkward. She needed to leave, like now. She stood up from the chair she was sitting in and scrambled out of it. “Thanks, bye!”

Not waiting for a response from the headmistress, she ran out the door. She needed to find the guys. Now.

Julie found them in the Great Hall, eating breakfast at the Hufflepuff table. She walked over to them, tapping them on the shoulder. They all turned around.

“We have a problem.” She said urgently before any of them could say anything. “Meet me in the room of requirement tonight. Make sure you’re not followed.” Before she could read any of their reactions, she turned around and headed to the Ravenclaw common room.

She had a lot of thinking to do.

* * *

That night, the boys were sitting on the floor of the Room of Requirement, watching Julie as she paced back and forth. They hadn’t seen her all day, and they were dying to know what Julie could have meant when she said there was a problem. “What’s up Julie?” Alex asked. “How did your talk with the Headmistress go?”

“It didn’t,” Julie revealed. “Her place has been bugged.”

The guys shared a look of confusion. “What?” Luke asked, his eyebrows furrowing. 

Julie held out a small golden beetle the size of a pill. She had found this one in the library this afternoon, which had confirmed her biggest fears. They were all over Hogwarts. This particular one she had managed to disable with magic, ensuring nothing they said here would be overheard.

“It’s a recording device,” Julie explained to the guys. The guys stood up to get a better look. “You can get them at Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. And this isn’t the only one; there were at least six visible ones I found all around the castle, including in her office.” She held up the small bug for them to get a closer look. Reggie took it out of her hand, eyeing it warily. “I noticed it before I told her anything, luckily.”

Reggie passed the bug back to Julie. “So… what does this mean?” he asked slowly.

“There’s someone inside of Hogwarts working for Covington,” Julie revealed, “and they don’t want word getting out that he’s trying to come back.”

Alex inhaled sharply. Reggie’s eyes widened. Luke shook his head in disbelief, running a hand through his hair and tugging. This couldn’t be happening.

“Shit,” Luke swore.

“So we can’t tell Lessa without them knowing we’re onto them,” Alex said definitively. “Now what?”

All the guys turned to Julie, hoping she had an answer. She had a determined glint in her eye. “I guess we’ll just have to do this ourselves.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh hope you enjoy it!!! what do YOU think is gonna happen next??? any predicitons?? 
> 
> Hint for the next chapter: Alex gets the nickname hot dog.


	4. Initiatives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is like so much longer than i thought... enjoy this monster chapter

They had gone over their plan a million times, but Julie was still nervous. As she sat at the Ravenclaw table for dinner, she tapped her wand nervously against the table.

After the events of yesterday, the boys and Julie knew they needed to do something. It took them a couple of hours of debate, but they finally decided on a course of action.

Their plan was pretty solid: Reggie and Luke were going to sneak into Headmistress Lessa’s office during dinner, one of the only times she wasn’t there, and get rid of the beetle statue. A quick vanishing spell should do the trick. It was Julie’s job to sweep the castle from top to bottom to get rid of the bugs. Alex had prefect patrol tonight but would vanish any bugs he saw along the way.

It’s not that she didn’t trust the guys to do the mission. It’s just… well… sometimes they could be a little unpredictable. 

Julie was broken out of her train of thought when saw Flynn take a seat at the other end of the Ravenclaw table. Catching sight of her best friend, she beamed and moved over to sit next to her.

“Flynn!” she greeted enthusiastically, throwing her arms around the other girl. “I feel like I haven’t seen you all week.”

The other girl stiffened. Julie knew something was wrong when the hug was not returned. Flynn removed herself from Julie’s embrace, sliding away from her. “Because you haven’t,” she said shortly, avoiding eye contact. Her eyes were glued on the plate in front of her.

“No, we hung out on…” Julie couldn’t remember the last time she had even seen her best friend, let alone the last time they had hung out. Last week maybe? Or was it the week before that? “Huh. I guess you’re right. I didn’t even realize... So much has happened-”

“Not like I would know.” Flynn cut in coldly, stabbing a piece of chicken with her fork rather aggressively. “You have your new best friends now.”

She had messed up. She had messed up big time. Her heart felt like it physically hurt, and her stomach dropped. “Flynn, c’mon-”

“Whatever.” The other girl pushed her plate away quickly, having lost her appetite. “Just forget it.” She stood up and stormed off.

“Flynn,” Julie called after her, but she didn’t turn around. “FLYNN!”

But it was no use. She was alone at the Ravenclaw table.

* * *

Luke carefully tiptoed into Headmistress Lessa’s office, Reggie by his side, opening the door carefully. After looking around the empty office and making sure she wasn’t inside, they closed the door behind them. _Careful now_ , Luke thought, _we can’t mess this up…_

They only took a couple of steps into her office when the door opened behind them with a whoosh. Reggie let out a small scream of surprise, scrambling to hide behind Luke. Headmistress Lessa looked at them in surprise.

She raised an eyebrow under her severe-looking hairdo. “Reggie, Luke? What are you two doing in here?” she questioned. 

“Uhh- Headmistress Lessa! We were just looking for you!” Luke improvised, laughing nervously. Reggie’s cheeks were flushed with stress, his eyes darting around the room as if wanting to escape.

“You were?”

“Uh, y-yes!” Reggie agreed hastily, wiping his sweaty palms on his robes. His voice cracked. “We were just looking for…” he trailed off, unable to think of anything on the spot.

“A quill!” Luke blurted. “We were wondering if you had an extra quill.”

Headmistress Lessa crossed her arms. “You came to ask me about… a quill,” she said flatly, obviously not believing them. She moved to go stand behind her desk, eyeing them suspiciously.

“Yes!” Luke nudged the boy next to him.

“Yup,” Reggie echoed, sounding pained.

She was looking at the boys as if they had grown extra heads. “Are you boys feeling alright?” she asked, her voice now laced with concern instead of suspicion.

 _Think Luke THINK!_ he mentally berated himself, trying to think of some way to get out of this without it seeming suspicious. “Uh-”

Out of nowhere, Reggie flailed his arms and fell forward, wiping everything that was on the headmistress’s desk onto the floor. “Oh nooooo!” he yelled dramatically, trying to make it look like an accident. Everything on her desk tumbled to the floor, including the beetle statue they were after. “Whoops!”

“Reginald!” She exclaimed sharply, jumping in surprise.

“I’m so sorry, we’ll clean that up right away,” Luke promised, bending over to start setting the toppled items onto her desk. Reggie knelt down, joining him in the cleanup efforts. 

Sneakily, he slid the golden beetle statue off the floor and under his robes, obscuring it from her view. She didn’t notice, too distracted by the scene in her office.

“What is wrong with you two?” she asked, flabbergasted. “Do you need to go to the hospital wing?” She was eyeing Reggie’s face, which was turning redder by the second.

“Yes!” Luke quickly jumped onto that excuse. He slapped the back of his hand to Reggie’s forehead, pretending to feel his temperature. “Oh, wow, Reg, you’re burning up! We need to go to the hospital wing right away.” He grabbed Reggie’s hand and hightailed it out of there. “Bye!”

He heard the headmistress call after them “But the quill-”, but they were already halfway out the door.

They ran as fast as they could. As soon as they were a safe distance away, Luke pulled out the statue and his wand. He set the statue on the ground.

“Evanesco,” he incanted, flicking his wand to the side and vanishing the object. The golden beetle statue disappeared, and the boys let out a sigh of relief.

Reggie held his hand to his chest as if trying to stop his racing heartbeat. “That was close,” he said, looking back over his shoulder.

“You think?” Luke asked sarcastically.

While they hadn’t exactly stuck to the plan, the mission was still accomplished, and that’s what mattered.

The headed down to the Hufflepuff common room, their post-mission rendezvous point. Julie was standing outside of the common room, looking lost in thought. They approached her, giving her a quick greeting.

“I think I got most of the bugs,” Julie whispered, looking around for any stray ones she might have missed. “There’s probably still a couple hiding out, so we’ll have to be careful.”

“Now that we’ve taken care of the bugs, we should tell Headmistress Lessa what’s going on,” Luke said, turning to go back towards the headmistress’s office.

Julie’s hand grabbed his arm. “We can’t,” she hesitated. All three guys gave her a questioning look. She took a deep breath. “We have to consider the very real possibility that she’s working for Covington.”

Reggie looked between the guys, who both looked equally skeptical. “There’s no way…” he murmured, shaking his head.

“The more I think about it, the more it doesn’t make sense,” Julie murmured hurriedly. “She had to have known that it was a recording device, she’s not stupid. Which means-”

“She wanted it to be there,” Luke finished. 

* * *

There were only so many places a Ravenclaw could hide. That’s why Julie was so puzzled as to why it was so hard to find Flynn. She had checked everywhere, from the Ravenclaw common room to the Whomping Willow to the library to the Quidditch pitch. Still, no luck.

Then, she spotted her, sitting in the last place she would think to look; in the dungeons, near the Slytherin common room and the potions classroom. She hadn’t even been looking for her when she found her, just wandering around aimlessly. But there she was; Flynn was seated on a stray bench, under a peculiar looking portrait of a redheaded wizard riding a unicorn. She was looking down at the book she was currently reading.

“Flynn!” she exclaimed, walking over and sitting next to her. The other girl didn’t even look up from her book, but she sighed.

“What?”

“We need to talk this out.”

Flynn shut her book with force, finally looking Julie in the eye. “I don’t really think there’s anything to say, Julie.” She stood up off the bench. “See you.”

Julie grabbed her arm to prevent her from walking away. “If you would stop being stubborn for one minute and just listen to me-”

The other girl wheeled around; her eyes were filled with anger. “I’m the stubborn one?” she scoffed, yanking her arm out of Julie’s grip, “You’re the one who can’t even say sorry!” Before Julie could say another word, she took off down the corridor, her box braids flying behind her.

“Flynn!” she called after her, but it was futile.

Was this the end of their friendship? She couldn’t even fathom the thought. Flynn had been there for her through everything, every up and down of her life since she was eleven years old. When everything with her mom had happened, Flynn was the shoulder she cried on. She meant more to her than she could ever really put into words. And she was right; Julie had messed up.  
  
Tears started welling in her eyes. She turned around abruptly, running right into someone’s chest. She almost toppled over; her vision blurred with tears.

Luke caught her and steadied her, happy to see her. Reggie and Alex were trailing behind him, engaged in conversation. “Hey, Julie!” He greeted. She looked up at him, a tear running down her cheek. His expression immediately shifted to one of concern, his grip on her arms tightening. “Whoah, what’s wrong?”

The lone tear traveled down Julie’s cheek. “Flynn is mad at me. She’ll barely even talk to me,” she sniffed. She wiped the tear off her cheek with the back of her hand. Luke was looking at her intently, trying to think of the right words to say. “I gotta go.”

She gently removed herself from Luke’s arms and walked away from the boys, wondering how she was going to fix this.

* * *

Alex watched Julie tearfully walk away, looking at her confusedly. The three of them had been on their way to Potions class when Luke had literally ran into Julie.

The blonde shot a questioning look at Luke, who gave him a shrug. _I hope Julie is okay. She’s been through a lot…_ Alex thought to himself. They had all been stressed trying to solve the whole “Covington” mystery, but Julie carried the extra weight of wanting to get justice for her mom.

The three boys shared a worried look before they entered the classroom.

As soon as they stepped foot into the classroom, Alex linked his arm through Reggie’s. “It’s my turn to have Reggie today!” he claimed. Luke pouted.

It was well known that Reggie was exceptionally talented in potions, and the two other boys were always fighting over who got to partner with him. It’s not like Alex was _awful_ at potions, but when you partnered with Reggie… you were guaranteed to have it come out perfectly. “You got him yesterday, remember?” the blonde reminded Luke. Luke sighed dejectedly.

“Ah, right,” Reggie said, replaying the previous day's potions class in his head. “How could I forget? He almost blew my eyebrows off,” Reggie accused, shooting a look at the Quidditch player. Luke held up his hands in surrender and gave them a wave, going to hunt for a different partner. For the brunette’s sake, Alex hoped he could find someone else to carry the load for him. Alex wasn’t bad at potions. He could handle an assignment or two by himself. Luke… couldn’t.

Alex looked at the front of the room. “Veritaserum?” he asked, reading the potion off the board, the page number right next to it.

They both opened their textbooks and turned to the page with the instructions. “Doesn’t look that hard,” Reggie said, his eyes skimming over the ingredient list.

“Not that hard? There’s like, over 50 steps in this potion,” Alex said incredulously, already overwhelmed with the amount of work that they were supposed to accomplish.

“Good thing you’re paired with me today, then.”

“Yeah.” Alex’s gaze wandered to the front of the room, where Luke had somehow gotten a Gryffindor girl to pair with him. She was up at the front getting the ingredients. Luke was holding his book upside down, looking confused. “Poor Luke. He’s not going to pass this one, is he?”

They both watched as Luke’s partner dumped all their ingredients on their table. “Well, based on the fact that his partner just picked up mostly wrong ingredients, I would say no,” Reggie answered. “Ooh, maybe he’ll actually lose his eyebrows today! That I would pay to see,” he chuckled. He still hadn’t forgiven him completely for the last class.

“That would be something.” Alex stood up, walking around their desk. “I’ll go get the ingredients.”

“The right ingredients, please!” Reggie called after him, giving another side-eyed glance to Luke and his partner.

Alex mock saluted. “Yes sir.”

He turned around and nearly ran into someone, a familiar face he hadn’t known was in this class. As if he could forget that face. Willie smiled at him, looking pleasantly surprised. “Alex! I didn’t know you were in this class,” the Slytherin greeted, walking over to the ingredient station with him.

“Hey!” Alex greeted, trying to calm his racing heartbeat. “Yeah, I sit in the back corner over there most days.” He gestured over to Reggie, who was reading over his textbook. “Luke and I switch off being partners with Reggie since, ya know, he’s the potions prodigy.”

They approached the ingredient cabinet. “What do you do on the days when Luke partners with him?” Willie asked, reaching for the lacewing flies.

The blonde shrugged. “Oh, mostly I just work by myself.” _Fluxweed… Where is the Fluxweed…_ Alex thought, scanning the shelves. _There it is_. Alex spotted it on the top shelf. He went to grab it, stretching a bit to reach it. Willie must have been looking for it too; his hand reached for the top shelf at the same time, causing their hands to brush each other. Alex’s eyes widened and his stomach felt like he was freefalling, butterflies swirling. His hand only made contact with Willie’s for a second, but it was enough to feel the warmth radiating from the Slytherin. Alex took his hand back quickly, glancing at Willie and rubbing his neck sheepishly.

Willie, however, seemed unphased. He grabbed the Fluxweed and brought it down off the shelf, handing Alex a piece. “Well, if you ever want a partner, I work by myself most days.” He took another piece for himself, then put the jar back on the shelf. “I don’t really know anyone in this class.”

Alex couldn’t contain his smile. “That would be awesome!” Finally, he didn’t have to work alone every other day. Plus, he could get to know Willie better. “Partners tomorrow?”

“Totally.” Willie agreed, grabbing the last of his ingredients. “See you!” He gave him a quick head nod and walked back to his table.

Alex waved goodbye as best as he could with all of the ingredients in his hand. He made his way back to Reggie, placing all of the ingredients he had gotten on the table. Reggie was looking at Willie, having just witnessed the interaction from across the room.

“Was that your new friend Willie? The Slytherin seeker?” he asked, grabbing one of the ingredients Alex had just laid on the table. “I didn’t know he was in this class.”

“Yeah, I didn’t either. He offered to be my partner tomorrow”

Reggie wiggled his eyebrows. “Wow, moving fast. Next thing you know you’ll be married with two kids and a two-story house,” he joked, lighting the burner under his cauldron with a flick of his wand.

Wow. That was a thought. He knew Reggie meant it as a joke, but now Alex was thinking about it. Like, really thinking about it. He was sure he had gone tomato red by now.

Noticing that Alex had gone quiet, the potions prodigy turned to him and nudged him gently. “Alex? It was a joke, man,” he assured, pouring the lacewing flies into the cauldron.

“Yeah right,” Alex choked, the words getting stuck in his throat, “A joke! Funny. Haha.” He laughed too enthusiastically, too loud to be anything but awkward. “Me and Willie? Married? Haha…” his words trailed off at the end, suddenly becoming aware of how incredibly awkward he was being.

Reggie stared at him for a moment before getting back to work. Silence fell between the two. The potion between them bubbled quietly. After a few moments, Reggie gave him a look. “Do you wanna unpack that, or…”

Alex banged his head on the table. “I’m a gay disaster, Reggie.”

A smile broke across Reggie’s face. “Oooooh so it’s like that, huh?” he questioned excitedly, forgetting the potion for a moment. “You like him?”

Peeling his head off the table, the blonde prefect sighed. “I don’t know, maybe,” He muttered. “I just maybe think he’s cute, okay? And nice. And funny.”

Reggie chuckled. His best friend had it bad. “If you say so, Alex.”

Alex shook his head. He needed to focus less on boys, and more on this potion. Otherwise, he was going to flunk. “So, what do you want me to do?” Alex asked, rolling up his sleeves.

“Can you chop this?” Reggie asked, handing him the Fluxweed. “Small pieces please.”

Alex nodded and got to chopping.

* * *

Everything hurt. Luke dragged his aching body through the Great Hall and over to the Hufflepuff table, sitting down with a loud thump. The other members of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team followed in behind them, all moving sluggishly. Some of them gave him annoyed looks as they passed by. Luke had worked them extra hard at practice today, but he was sure they would thank him whenever they won the Quidditch cup at the end of the year.

“How was practice?” Alex asked, handing him a plate.

Luke’s hand shook as he grabbed the plate, even his hand muscles completely fatigued. “Long, but good. My whole body feels like jelly.”

Reggie reached over him to grab a roll. “You missed out on the entertainment today,” he said casually.

“What happened?”

Reggie went into storytelling mode. “At the beginning of dinner, Carrie and Nick got into a fight in front of everyone.” Reggie recounted, looking over at the Gryffindor table where the two lovebirds were sitting side by side. “Something about him not paying enough attention to her? I think at one point she even accused him of having feelings for someone else. It ended in a disgustingly passionate make-out session.”

Luke turned and inspected the couple carefully. Carrie looked happy as could be, twirling a piece of copper hair between her perfectly manicured fingers. She was chatting casually with the girl next to her. Nick, however, looked the opposite. He had his arm wrapped around Carrie, but he was frowning and staring into space, deep in thought. Maybe they weren’t the endgame couple everyone thought they were.

Selfishly, he hoped that they wouldn’t break up. If they broke up, then Nick would be single, which meant that he would definitely go for Julie. That thought alone made Luke’s heart felt like it was being twisted. Julie was too good to go out with a knucklehead like Nick. She needed someone who would treat her right but still challenge her. Someone who knew her inside and out. Someone just like him.

But not him exactly, of course. He and Julie would never happen. So what if he thought she looked especially beautiful when she wore her hair down, or how breathtaking her smile was, or how he would do just about anything to make her laugh? So what if the thought of kissing her made him feel like his nerves were on fire? 

_Woah_. He didn’t have time to unpack all of that, so he pushed it to the back of his mind.

Luke turned back to his friends. “Those two have broken up more times than I can count. How are they still together?”

“I have no idea,” Alex answered.

Reggie wrinkled his nose. “Honestly, I’m not a big fan of either of them,” he revealed, breaking his roll in half and buttering it. 

The quidditch captain nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I don’t like how Carrie treats Julie,” he said, remembering how Julie had looked when he saw the two girls talking in the Quidditch stands. When Carrie had grabbed her arm and sneered at Julie, he had wanted nothing more than to hex her head off. 

“Same,” Alex agreed.

“And Nick…” Luke continued, “there’s just something off about him.” He looked back over to the blonde Gryffindor, who flicked his hair out of his face. “Like what’s so cool about him?” he scowled.

A shit-eating grin crossed Reggie’s face. “Is that jealousy I detect, Luke?” he asked, leaning closer to him and inspecting his face. Luke leaned away from him, avoiding eye contact.

“W-What?” he asked, his voice going unnaturally high.

Alex also leaned closer, getting in on the teasing. “I mean, it’s kind of obvious Julie has a little crush on him,” the blonde admitted.

“I am NOT jealous of Nick,” Luke stated adamantly, pushing his friends away. “Julie and I are just friends, I don’t like her like that.” Saying that felt like a lie, even though he would never admit that to his friends. Although, to be honest, he was pretty sure they already knew.

“Okay, Luke. Whatever you say,” Alex said cryptically. Luke threw a roll at his head. 

The blonde picked up a hot dog from a platter in the middle of the table. Ever since they had found the entrance to the kitchens, they had been able to subtly influence the menu. Just adding one or two things that they wanted. Last week they had added hamburgers. This week, hot dogs. 

Alex took a huge bite of his hot dog right as someone came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey Alex!” Willie said in greeting, leaning close to him.

The surprise of Willie's presence sent Alex into a choking fit, the hot dog getting stuck in his windpipe. His face turned bright red. After a few minutes of coughing and spluttering, he was able to breathe again.

Willie looked at him in concern, but after realizing he wasn't in danger of dying, laughed. “You okay there?” he asked, his hand coming up to pat Alex’s back, trying to help him clear his airway.

If it was possible for Alex’s face to turn redder, it would have. “Almost just died,” he coughed, pouring himself a glass of water. He downed the glass, hoping to clear his airway.

“That would have been quite the way to go,” Willie laughed, taking a seat next to Alex at the Hufflepuff table. “Death by hot dog,” he teased.

“That would have been something,” Alex said embarrassedly, moving his hair out of his face. He looked over to his friends as if just remembering that they were there. “Oh, by the way, these are my best friends Reggie and Luke.” Both of the brunettes waved in greeting.

“Nice to finally meet you,” Luke said, nodding to him.

“Alex has told us a lot about you,” Reggie said cheerfully. Luke elbowed him subtly.

“No I haven’t!” Alex defended quickly. Willie raised an eyebrow at Alex questioningly. “I’ve told them, like, the normal amount about you.” Luke snorted. That was definitely a lie. It seemed like every five minutes the blonde mentioned his new friend.

Willie didn’t seem to be phased. “Did he tell you I almost flattened him like a pancake?” he asked, grinning. Alex winced at the memory.

“No, he didn’t,” Reggie said.

“It’s true,” Willie said, nudging Alex with his shoulder. “Ran right into him on my broom, totally knocked him over.”

Alex snorted. “It was quite the first impression.”

They shared a look between them that made Luke feel like he was intruding. He looked over at Reggie, who looked back at him. A moment of silent communication passed between them. They needed to set Alex and Willie up as soon as possible.

Willie turned around, looking at the big clock near the entrance of the Great Hall. “I gotta go, I have Quidditch practice,” he said, standing up from the table. “I’ll catch you later, _hot dog_.” He emphasized the new nickname, winking at Alex as he left.

“I really don’t like that nickname, it’s how I almost died!” Alex called after him. His gaze was glued to the Slytherin until he left the Great Hall. 

Reggie and Luke stared at Alex, grinning. Alex was even more smitten than Luke had originally thought. Alex noticed them staring and shifted under their gaze uncomfortably.

“Stop looking at me like that,” the blonde groaned. They didn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love you all but I especially love people who review omg. some of the reviews literally almost make me cry wow. 
> 
> up next: making up, run-ins with the boys' fan clubs, and a prophecy


	5. Reconciliation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> take this! enjoy! hope you like it :) sorry for the late update, it was my midterms this week.

It was a beautiful fall day at Hogwarts, the leaves a burnt orange as they fell from the trees. Flynn sat outside the perimeter of the Black Lake, its surface smooth and glassy. She had brought homework to work on but had barely even opened her books. Julie kept running through her mind, the sting of her replacement still sharp.

In the distance, she saw three figures lumbering towards her from the castle. They seemed to be having a small argument between them in hushed voices, their heads turning to look at her occasionally. Flynn had just about had it with Julie’s three new best friends. They had been following her this whole week. No matter where she went, she saw three heads peeking out around the corner, one blonde and two brunettes, watching her intently. It was starting to become irritating. As they approached, Flynn crossed her arms. Alex pushed Luke in front of them, trying to prompt him to speak.

“Hey Flynn,” Luke greeted, stumbling.

Flynn stood up from her study spot and turned towards them, crossing her arms. “Best friend stealers,” she addressed them in response.

“Don’t be like that, Flynn. C’mon.” Luke took a step towards her, but she held up her hand, freezing him in his tracks.

“Look, Patterson, I don’t know who you think you are, but I’m not fully convinced that I trust you with Julie.”

A look of confusion crossed Luke’s face. “What did I do?”

It was hard to be cold with them when they looked like puppies that had been left on the side of the road in a cardboard box. _C’mon Flynn, keep your guard up_. “I don’t understand what you guys trying to pull here. You all got so close to Julie so fast.” she clarified, looking at all three of them. Then, she turned to Luke specifically. “I don’t want you to lead her on and then drop her whenever you get bored with her.”

“It’s not like that, me and her.” Luke denied vehemently. Flynn raised an eyebrow. “I care about her. We all do. We’re in it for the long haul, we promise.” he gestured to the guys behind him, who nodded in agreement. “I know we haven’t known each other for that long, but we would do anything for her. In a weird way, she completes us. Balances us out.”

He looked so earnest that Flynn had to look away. It was literally impossible to hate these guys. She let out a sigh, uncrossing her arms. She sat back down on the grass, motioning for them to sit with her. They all took a seat, the brisk fall breeze flowing gently around them. The fight seemed to leave her as she inspected them sitting across from her.

Flynn had always prided herself on being able to read people fairly well. This time, however, she had definitely been wrong. Jealousy and fear had wormed its way into her heart. 

Flynn gathered her thoughts before she started to speak. “Look, I’m sorry. That was out of pocket for me. I really don’t have a problem with you,” she said to Luke, then turned to the other two, “Any of you. I’m not even really that mad at Julie,” she confessed. “I’m mad at myself.”

Tears started welling in her eyes. She looked down, sniffling. Alex reached over and put a hand on her arm comfortingly. She gave him a watery smile. The other two looked at her in concern.

Once she started talking, it all spilled out of her. “It’s just… this summer has been horrible for Julie. Like, really horrible. And I’ve been the one who has been by her side the whole time. This entire summer I’ve been completely helpless. Nothing I said or did helped or fixed anything.” The tears were running down her cheeks now, spurred by the memory of Julie’s grief. She wiped them away with her sleeve. “But then you guys show up, and _bam_! You guys create this weird instant bond. Suddenly, she’s smiling more. Crying less. And I’m happy for you guys, I truly am,” she promised. She took a deep breath. “I just wish I could have done that for her, you know?” she admitted.

Luke looked her in the eye, his expression sincere. “You’ve helped more than you’ll ever know, Flynn. You’ve been there for her through everything. She loves you so much that she talks about you constantly.”

Hope blossomed in Flynn’s chest. “Really?” she sniffled.

“Yeah, dude,” Reggie affirmed, giving her a smile. “You guys are like peanut butter and jelly.”

“And, if you’re not going to kill us, because I totally believe that you could if you wanted to,” Alex said, causing Flynn to let out a chuckle, “We’d like to be your friend too.”

She really had been wrong about them, hadn’t she?

“You guys are cool. Maybe I’ll grace you with my friendship,” she teased lightly. They all let out a laugh.

“So… you’ll talk to Julie?” Luke asked hopefully.

Flynn nodded. “Yeah, I’ll talk to her. This whole thing is my fault anyway,” she said quietly, looking down. Guilt started creeping in. Admittedly, she had been overreacting.

“Your feelings are valid, Flynn,” Alex reassured. Flynn was starting to realize that they all shared one brain cell, and Alex had it most of the time. “And I’m sure if you talk to Julie, she’ll understand.”

She could only hope that was true. She and Julie, for all the years they had been friends, had never really gotten into a fight before. They barely even had disagreements. As she went about the rest of her day, she thought of how she was going to apologize to her best friend.

After their last class of the day, Charms, she decided it was time to break the silence. She walked up to her as the other students filed out of the classroom, glad to be done with Charms for the day. Julie looked at her warily as she approached.

Flynn opened her mouth to start apologizing but was beat to the punch by Julie. “Before you say anything or storm off again,” Julie started, “I just wanted to say that I miss you. And I’m sorry I’ve been so preoccupied with the guys recently. You’re my best friend and always will be. I should have made more of an effort to keep you in the loop, and I’m so, so sorry,” Julie apologized, her voice cracking. “I love you so much, and I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Flynn took a moment to soak in her words. Julie waited nervously, her eyes darting to the side. In a flurry of motion, Flynn threw her arms around her best friend. Julie was surprised for a moment, but responded enthusiastically, her arms embracing Flynn.

“I love you too, Julie,” Flynn mumbled into her best friend’s shoulder. She pulled away, sighing. “This isn’t all on you though, I was being dumb too. I’m sorry I’ve been acting kinda jealous. I know that you’re allowed to have new friends. I’m just used to being the one you go to for everything, you know? But I’m genuinely really happy you found them, Julie. You deserve to have great things in your life.”

Happy tears started welling in Julie’s eyes. “F-Flynn…”

Flynn pulled her best friend into another hug. “Don’t cry! You’re going to make me cry!”

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

Julie pulled away, her expression turning serious. “Not to break up the moment, but I do actually need to warn you about something. We’ve done our own digging into what’s been going on and… it’s not good.”

Flynn furrowed her eyebrows in worry. “Spill.” And Julie did.

* * *

Julie was happier than she had been in weeks. Things were finally starting to look up for her. Classes were going great, she and Flynn had made up, and she had started playing more and more music after hours with the boys. It was amazing how in sync they all were, how easily the music flowed through all of them.

She felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders since she and Flynn made up. Although, she has a sneaking suspicion that a certain Hufflepuff had talked to her best friend.

Walking down the hallways after dinner, she spotted Luke exiting the Quidditch locker rooms, his hair damp with sweat. He was holding his broom in one hand. She walked up to him, smiling. “Did you talk to Flynn for me?” she asked, cutting right to the chase.

Luke was caught off guard. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Whaaat?” he asked, his voice going high. “No…” She raised an eyebrow. He relented. “Okay, maybe. I didn’t like seeing you upset,” he said, his eyes dropping to the floor.

Emotions overwhelmed her. She basically jumped into his arms to hug him, sending his broom clattering to the floor. His arms wrapped around her waist. Butterflies were swarming in her stomach, but she ignored them.

“Thank you,” she breathed, squeezing him tighter.

He chuckled into her hair, his breath fanning over her neck. Shivers raced down her spine. “You’re welcome,” he murmured.

This hug was going on a little too long to be considered friendly. She pulled away from the hug, slightly flushed. She wrinkled her nose when she caught a whiff of him.

“You’re sweaty.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Really? I hadn’t noticed. C’mon, it can’t be that-” he took a whiff of himself and wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Okay, yeah, that’s bad.” He looked at her mischievously, opening his arms wide. “Want another hug?”

He took a step towards her. She took a couple of steps back, trying to keep her distance. “Stay away from me, Patterson!” she warned, her eyes widening.

“Come here, Julie!” he called, starting to run towards her. She let out a yelp and ran down the hallway, trying to avoid his sweaty embrace. They weaved through crowds of students walking to their classes, attracting many stares of confusion. She was sure they were causing a scene, but at this point, she didn’t really care.

* * *

A few days later, Julie had an announcement for the Hufflepuff boys. “It’s official. I’m unfriending you guys.” Julie notified them, sliding onto the bench next to them at the Hufflepuff table. She sat right next to Luke, Alex and Reggie seated across from them. As a welcome addition, Flynn slid right next to Julie, waving at the guys in greeting.

“What did we do this time?” Reggie asked.

“It’s not what you guys did,” Julie clarified, “It’s what everyone else is doing.”

All three guys looked at her in confusion. “I don’t follow,” Luke said.

“Ever since we became friends it’s like I’ve become a magnet for your guys’ fan clubs,” Julie revealed. Flynn nodded in agreement; she too had noticed the gaggle of girls that had started interrogating Julie.

Just this morning, in Potions, Carrie’s friends had started interrogating Julie about the boys’ relationship status. Carrie’s friends were never mean to Julie like Carrie was, but it’s not like they ever willingly talked to her. So, when they suddenly all wanted to be her best friend, she was more than a little suspicious. Then things had finally clicked when Kayla, Carrie’s right-hand woman, had grilled her about Reggie’s ideal girlfriend.

Alex let out a disbelieving laugh. “Very funny, Julie. We don’t have fan clubs.”

Her and Flynn shared a look of confusion. It seemed like they were literally unaware of their popularity. “You guys really have no idea?” Flynn asked skeptically. These guys really were as dense as pound cake.

“I had girls in every class asking me if you guys were single and grilling me about how to woo you,” Julie complained to Luke and Reggie. The two guys shared a look of disbelief. “And don’t even get me started on all the guys who are pining after Alex.”

Alex let out a snort. “Very funny Julie. The guys in this school don’t even know I exist.”

“Someone has a crush on me?” Reggie asked excitedly, leaning forward. “Who?”

Luke hit Reggie’s shoulder. “Julie’s just messing around, guys,” He said, shoving a forkful of peas in his mouth.

Flynn shook her head, leaning over and whispering to Julie, “They’re lucky they’re cute.”

Julie choked out a laugh under her breath, Flynn laughing with her. She shook her head and turned back to the three Hufflepuffs. “I’m dead serious. It’s actually really annoying. I basically had to fight off Luke’s admirers with a beater’s bat,” she exaggerated. Well, it wasn’t that big of an exaggeration. His fangirls were the most ruthless.

The Quidditch captain turned to look at the girl next to him. “Why, Julie, you want me all to yourself?” he teased, shooting her a toothy grin. She narrowed her eyes. _Two can play at this game._

“You wish, Luke,” she responded, leaning forward and looking him in the eye “You couldn’t handle me.” If he was going to fake flirt with her, she was going to give it all she had.

He leaned in as well, eyes dark. “I think I could take you,” he said, his voice dropping an octave. For a second, she could have sworn she saw his gaze drop to her lips.

“Uh, Julie?” Someone behind her said.

She turned around on the bench to see Nick standing there, standing awkwardly. She scooted back from Luke a little bit, breaking their moment. Her face flushed red; that must have looked incriminating. “Nick? Hi, Nick. Hello,” she greeted awkwardly. Everyone around her at the table was giving her a look. Julie cleared her throat. “What’s up?”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking nervous. “I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second?”

“Yeah, sure,” Julie agreed, turning fully around on the bench and standing up. “What’s up?”

While Reggie, Alex, and Flynn had pretended to be disinterested in their conversation but were secretly eavesdropping, Luke continued to blatantly watch. Nick made eye contact with him for a moment, quickly looking back to Julie when it became obvious that Luke was staring him down.

“Well, um, this is kind of embarrassing, but you know how we’re in potions together?” the blonde asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah…”

“I was wondering if maybe you would be my partner?” Nick asked, giving her a hopeful smile. Julie was surprised to realize that Nick’s handsome smile didn’t make her as nervous as it had a few weeks ago. “I noticed that you’re really good and I am just not getting it.”

She looked over at Flynn, her current Potions partner, who was miming a big thumbs up. Julie gave her a questioning look. In response, her best friend rolled her eyes and made a hand gesture that roughly translated to _get a move on, say yes already!_ Julie looked back at Nick, giving him a small smile. “Sure!”

Nick let out a breath of relief. “Great! See you tomorrow in class?”

“Sounds good. See you tomorrow!”

He gave Julie a wave as he headed back to the Gryffindor table. She stared after him in confusion for a second. _Why did he want to be her potions partner now, nearly halfway into the term?_

Julie slid back into her original seat between Flynn and Luke. “Well isn’t he just too cute?” Luke said teasingly, giving her a smirk.

She rolled her eyes. “Shut up.”

“That should be… interesting…” Flynn said carefully.

“Carrie is actually going to murder me,” Julie stressed, tugging at a stray curl nervously. She should have been excited about spending time with Nick, but all she could think about was her impending doom. “Is she staring at me? I feel like she’s staring at me.”

Reggie nearly choked on a piece of chicken when he spotted Carrie over Julie’s shoulder at the Slytherin table, looking over in their direction with enough anger to spontaneously combust. He was pretty sure if she was any more furious her hair would literally catch on fire. “N-No, she’s not even looking over here!” he assured.

Alex shook his head. “You’re a horrible liar, Reggie.”

“Yeah, you’re toast. Sorry.” Reggie apologized. 

“It’s okay. I’ll just try to enjoy my last hours on earth before she plots my untimely demise,” Julie said forlornly, hiding her head in her arms, which were resting on the table. Flynn and Luke shared a look over her head, amused by her dramatics. Carrie may look threatening, but they both knew that Julie would win in a duel any day.

* * *

Luke strummed his guitar absent-mindedly, sitting on a lone chair in the Room of Requirement, humming a melody that he had written at the beginning of the semester. Alex, Reggie, and Julie were a few feet away, talking about something he couldn’t make out. His lyric journal was laid out in front of him, a pencil perched behind his ear. An unfinished line was in front of him on the page, taunting him. There was one line in the chorus he just couldn’t figure out. He cleared his throat and played the chords over again

“And write in every empty space, the words I love you in replace…” he sang, trying to think of a lyric to put after it. His eyes widened as the perfect line popped into his head. He sang it out loud to see how it rolled off his tongue. “Then maybe time would not erase me.”

He smiled and wrote it down, completing the line in his journal. _Chorus, done_. Suddenly, Julie’s head popped over his shoulder, peering down at the paper.

“What are you writing in there?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing,” he said, hastily trying to close his journal.

“A new song? Let me see!” she grabbed the journal before he could close it, picking it up and moving a few steps away.

“Hey!” Luke exclaimed, trying to grab it from her grasp. She dodged him. The commotion had raised the attention of both Alex and Reggie, who stopped their conversation to look at them.

“If you could only know, I never let you go. And the words I most regret are the ones I never meant to leave, unsaid Emily.” She read. Her eyebrows raised. “Wow, Luke. Who knew you were a romantic?”

Reggie shook his head. “That’s not romantic. Emily is-”

“No one, it’s nothing.” Luke cut him off, giving him a look. Julie shouldn’t have to be burdened with his emotional hang-ups, especially not when the loss of her own mother was so fresh.

To his left, Alex was pacing so hard Luke was sure that he was going to wear a hole in the carpet. He was obviously anxious, his hands fidgeting nervously. “Not to be that person,” he interrupted, “but what are we going to do about Covington?”

Luke exhaled sharply, putting his journal down. “I don’t know. It’s not like we can go out and investigate.”

“We can start by trying to figure out who gave Lessa that statue,” Julie said. “If we find the inside spy, they could lead us right to Covington.” 

Alex nodded and finally stopped pacing. “Good idea. I’ll start doing some digging tomorrow.” He sat down on the floor and started drumming on his lap absent-mindedly, lost in thought.

“Bet you ten galleons it’s Carrie,” Julie said to Luke, nudging him with her shoulder.

“You’re just saying that because you don’t like her.”

“That… is accurate,” Julie admitted.

* * *

Divination was quickly becoming Julie’s least favorite subject. This was unusual, as Julie and Flynn had both usually enjoyed the class since starting it in their third year. But this year, something was different. It was like whenever she was in the classroom with Professor Ogra a permanent chill settled in her bones.

Usually, she could wrap her sweater around herself and ignore it for the most part. But today, it felt like the ice was injected into her veins. Even the tea that they had to drink for their readings hadn’t warmed her up.

Professor Ogra peered at her from the front of the room as everyone finished their cups of tea. “Julie, what do you see in Flynn’s tea leaves?” she asked, her wide eyes looking straight through the Ravenclaw. “Please share with the class.”

Julie shivered and picked up Flynn’s cup, looking at the leaves clumped at the bottom. “I see… a… star?” Julie said hesitantly. To be honest, it didn’t really look like much of anything, but she made it work.

“Excellent. You’ll have a good week this week, Flynn.” Professor Ogra said. Flynn silently cheered in her seat, smiling. “And what about you, Flynn. What do you see in Julie’s leaves?” the Divination professor asked.

Flynn picked up Julie’s cup and her eyes widened in surprise. “It’s an hourglass.”

Julie tried desperately to remember what her textbook said about hourglasses. Maybe it meant fortune? Good luck?

The professor walked over to their table and looked at Julie’s cup inquisitively. She seemed surprised at whatever she found. “Oh, dear. This is the clearest reading I’ve ever seen in all my years of teaching,” she exclaimed, giving Julie a grim smile. “Well, it was nice knowing you, dearie. I shall never forget you,” she said airily, walking back to the front of the classroom.

The whole class was staring at Julie now, murmuring in low tones. “What the hell does that mean?” Julie whispered heatedly to Flynn. The shorter girl was rapidly flipping through her textbook.

Her best friend opened it to the tea reading section, scanning the list of all different meanings. She pointed at the symbol she had seen. “Hourglass: imminent danger.”

Julie scoffed. “I could have told you that one. Everyone’s in danger ever since, well… you-know-what,” she whispered, referring to the events that had transpired in the Room of Requirement. She quirked her head, getting another look at the tea leaves. “That is kind of odd, though. A couple of classes ago, I swear I saw an hourglass in the orb.”

“That’s concerning.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

Luckily, the rest of the class passed quickly for Julie after that. She was preoccupied with thinking about the hourglass and what it could possibly mean. Their class was dismissed by Professor Ogra with a wave of her hand, and their class began filing out of the Astronomy tower.

She and Flynn were halfway to the Ravenclaw common room when Julie realized she had left something behind. “Oh, shoot. Left my quill,” she said, turning around back towards the Astronomy tower. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Alright! I’ll meet you in the common room!” her best friend called back.

After a quick walk, Julie re-entered the Divination classroom. She spotted her quill just where she had left it and grabbed it, putting it back into her bag. The classroom was empty except for Professor Ogra, who hadn’t even seen her walk in. She was busy rearranging crystal orbs on the far side of the classroom.

Julie weighed her options. She could just turn around and go, forgetting about the hourglass. But also… This could be a chance to get some answers.

“Professor?” she asked hesitantly, walking over to her.

The Divination professor looked up from her pile of orbs. “Yes dear?” she responded, standing up. “Is everything alright?”

“I was wondering if you knew anything about… what my imminent danger may be?” Julie asked carefully.

Professor Ogra shook her head, her black hair swinging fluidly. She looked at her with an odd mix of pity and intrigue, as if she was a sad painting that she couldn’t quite understand. “I’m sorry, but it’s nearly impossible to tell. Could just be a tragic accident, or something like an illness. No use in worrying dear, it will come for you eventually.”

“Great,” Julie said sarcastically, but it went over the professor’s head.

Professor Ogra went to put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. The second her hand made contact with Julie’s shoulder, her eyes turned pure white and her grip on Julie turned to stone. Her hand squeezed Julie painfully. The cold chill that usually surrounded Julie when she was in the classroom turned into a full arctic tundra.

Julie gasped in shock, looking at the professor in fear. “Professor?” No answer from Ogra, who seemed to be possessed by something otherworldly. “PROFESSOR! Let me go!” She shouted, trying to tug her arm out of the death grip.

When Ogra spoke, her voice took on the tone of a million voices in one:

> “ _One pure of blood, one half pure, and one muggle born-_
> 
> _The power to rise again comes from the three._
> 
> _But beware the mark; it trades three lives for one_
> 
> _Unless the one with the gift can set them free_ ”

Using all of her strength, Julie finally broke free of Professor Ogra’s grip. She ran down the stairs of the Astronomy tower, taking two at a time, putting as much distance as she could between her and the divination classroom.

Her footsteps echoed down the hallway as she ran to the Ravenclaw common room. Quickly answering the riddle, she climbed through the portrait hall and slammed the door behind her. She let out a breath of relief, glad to be safe in her common room.

Flynn noticed her disheveled state as she walked in and looked at her in concern. “What’s wrong?”

Julie hesitated. On one hand, she wanted to tell Flynn what Professor Ogra had said. On the other hand, she didn’t want to freak her out for no reason. Flynn had spent enough time worrying over Julie. “Oh, nothing, nothing,” Julie said, waving her off with her hand. "Just Professor Ogra being... Professor Ogra." Her best friend gave her a suspicious look but didn’t push the matter further.

If she thought she disliked Divination before, she definitely didn’t like it now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter is one of my favorites!
> 
> one word: AMORTENTIA


	6. Aroma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good morning! enjoy this chapter. it's one of my favorites :)
> 
> also... your guys comments make my day. i literally cry in hapiness whenever i get one. LOVE YALL!

For some reason he couldn’t put his finger on, Reggie’s favorite classroom was the Potions classroom. Even though it was dark, kind of dreary, and always smelled faintly of smoke, there was something exciting about stepping foot in the classroom. Maybe it was the potential to discover something new, or the feeling of getting a potion exactly right.

Reggie was seated next to Luke at a table near the back of the classroom, an empty cauldron in between them. At the front of the classroom, the potions professor, a short and stout man named Professor Greenwich, clapped his hands.

“Welcome, class!” He greeted, his salt and pepper hair glinting in the dim light. “As I’m sure many of you probably know, today we will be brewing Amortentia.” The class started whispering among each other excitedly. “Can someone tell me what Amortentia is?”

There was only one hand raised, and it belonged to Reggie. The potions professor nodded at him, calling on him to answer.

“It’s a love potion. The most powerful love potion in the world, actually,” Reggie said. “The smell is different for everyone based on what attracts them.”

Professor Greenwich nodded approvingly, “Correct, Reginald. 15 points to Hufflepuff.” Luke gave him a fist bump. “Now, everyone, get started!”

Pulling out his textbook and setting it between them, Reggie absent-mindedly wondered what his Amortentia would smell like. He flipped to the page with the instructions; Luke took one look at it and raised his eyebrows. “Dude, I'm so lucky it’s my day to have you as a partner. I don’t think I could handle failing another potion.”

Reggie looked to the front of the room, where Alex was seated next to Willie at a table a couple of rows ahead of them. They were sitting a little too close to each other to be considered friendly. “Yeah, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about switching partners anymore.” Luke looked at him confusedly. Reggie nudged his shoulder and nodded over in Alex’s direction. “Look.”

The two boys watched Alex and Willie talk to each other for a moment. Their arms accidentally brushed between them, but neither made a move to pull away.

“Dude, that’s a double win!” Luke exclaimed, turning back to Reggie. “Alex gets to have his boy time and I get to pass potions.”

Reggie pouted. “Your win isn’t spending time with me?"

“Nope, sorry. You caught me,” Luke joked, putting his hands in the air like someone in a stickup. “I’ve been using you for potions this whole time.”

The potions prodigy clutched his chest in fake-agony. “You wound me, Luke.”

* * *

After an hour and a half of stirring, chopping, and stressing, Alex and Willie’s potion was nearly complete. The liquid inside their cauldron swirled a light pink color with a mother-of-pearl sheen. Spirals of steam curled upwards from the surface of the potion.

“And… done!” Alex said, adding the last ingredient; a strand of unicorn hair. “That should be it.”

“It looks great,” Willie said, grinning. He nudged Alex with his shoulder gently. “We make a good team, hot dog.”

Alex internally cringed at the reminder of his embarrassing choking scene in the Great Hall. “Terrible nickname aside, I agree with you.” They had made a great team; Willie balanced out Alex’s rigid following of the directions with a little bit of creative flair, allowing them to get better results in a shorter amount of time. Now that the potion was done, there was only one thing left to do. “I guess we should probably smell it?” Alex suggested, looking at the potion warily.

Willie nodded. “You’re right. You go first.” He gestured over to the cauldron.

Hesitantly, Alex closed his eyes, leaned over the cauldron, and inhaled. Immediately, the most amazing scent to ever exist filled his nose, overwhelming his senses. It was many scents at once, yet he could smell every single one distinctly at the same time. He smelled homemade chocolate chip cookies, straight from the oven. He smelled laundry being taken fresh out of the dryer, still warm. He smelled the dew on grass the morning after a heavy rainstorm. And there was one more heady, smoky scent that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

“Woah,” Alex muttered, his eyes snapping open.

“Smells good?” Willie asked, trying to read Alex’s expression.

That was the biggest understatement of the century. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“C’mon, Alex, don’t hold out. What do you smell?” Willie asked eagerly.

“Homemade chocolate chip cookies. Laundry. Fresh rain. And-” Alex hesitated for a moment, unsure what he would call the heady, smoky scent. It was odd; he swore that he could smell it even while leaning away from the cauldron. All of the other scents had left except for this one.

Then, it dawned on him. The scent… it was familiar. He had been smelling it all class. It was Willie’s cologne.

“And?” Willie questioned, waiting for him to continue.

It wasn’t like Alex could just blurt out that Willie’s cologne was his last scent. He didn’t want to freak him out with his unrequited feelings. “Uh, that’s it,” Alex said hastily.

Willie raised an eyebrow but otherwise let it go. “That’s an interesting combo.”

“It’s like… I’m smelling them all at once, but also separately?” The blonde took another whiff of the potion, closing his eyes. “Like you wouldn’t think that cookies and laundry would go together, but... wow,” he sighed dreamily. Alex pushed the cauldron over to the Slytherin. “Here, smell it for yourself.”

Willie leaned over and inhaled, his eyes immediately snapping open and darting over to Alex. Red tinged the tops of his cheeks and ears. “Oh,” Willie breathed as if he was having a realization. Alex had never seen Willie act so flustered before. Usually, the Slytherin was very calm, cool, and collected.

Curiosity burned through Alex’s mind. “What do you smell?” he asked his potions partner. 

The brunette swept his long brown hair behind his ear and took another sniff. “Not… what I was expecting,” he answered hesitantly.

He was quiet for a moment. The Hufflepuff was actually starting to become concerned. “You alright?” Alex asked gently.

After a moment, Willie turned to him, grinning. Whatever internal crisis he was having seemed to be over for the moment. “Yeah. Better than alright, actually.” Was it just him, or was Willie sitting closer to him than before?

“So? What do you smell?” Alex asked.

“Something spicy. Cumin, maybe? Leather. Sunscreen. And… spearmint.”

It must be a coincidence that Alex uses mint shampoo, right? _Like, there’s no way there’s a correlation there. Right?_ Alex internally freaked out.

“Cool,” he squeaked, his mind running a mile a minute.

Willie pulled some empty vials out from his bag. “C’mon, let’s bottle this and turn it in.” The Hufflepuff nodded reached over, grabbing an empty vial from Willie’s hand.

Their fingers brushed slowly; Alex’s stomach started doing backflips. Maybe he was going crazy, but Alex swore that Willie was doing it on purpose. _It must be the Amortentia fumes, right?_ The sooner they could get this potion bottled and over with, the better.

* * *

“And… done!” Reggie declared, giving the potion one last stir. It looked flawless, as all of his potions did.

“Reggie… I don’t know how you do it. You’re a mad genius, man.” Luke exclaimed. His role for the past hour and a half was mostly just hype man. After he had cut the moonstone wrong and nearly added it at the wrong time, Reggie had relegated him to verbal encouragement only.

“Thanks, man.” Reggie pushed the cauldron over to Luke. “Well? Give it a sniff!”

Luke sniffed the potion eagerly, wanting to know what it smelled like. Instantly, his nose was overwhelmed. Cinnamon, like the kind he liked to put in his coffee. Lemon broom polish. And the last scent was the most overwhelming one, filling his mind to the point that he could think of nothing else.

The look on Luke’s face must have told Reggie all he needed to know. “It’s Julie, isn’t it?” he asked, but he already knew the answer.

Luke groaned. “Dude, I’m so screwed.” He ran a hand through his hair, tugging on it lightly in stress.

“Why?” Reggie was confused. “This is great!”

“Not great!” Luke shook his head, sighing. “Julie is one of our best friends, I don’t want to mess that up.” Crossing the line from friendship to relationship was risky. He cared about Julie too much to risk them dating and breaking up. He would rather stay her friend than lose her altogether. “Plus, she likes Nick. Not me,” he added.

Reggie put a comforting hand on Luke’s shoulder. “You never know, man. I think you guys would be great together.”

“Maybe we would. But I’m not willing to risk it.” Luke said, ending the conversation. Julie would never go for him, end of story. “What does yours smell like?” He asked Reggie, changing the subject.

The potions prodigy pulled the cauldron over to himself and inhaled. He smiled, the scents washing over him comfortingly. His eyes drifted shut. “Floral perfume. Strawberries. And…” His eyes snapped open. “Woah, sandalwood. And aftershave?” He puzzled, taking another sniff and confirming that was the smell. “What kind of girl uses aftershave?”

Luke shook his head exasperatedly. Leave it to Reggie to be the most oblivious person on the planet. “I’ll let you work that out for yourself.”

* * *

When Carrie approached Julie in the hallway after classes had let out for the day, Julie thought she was about to get hit with the killing curse. After agreeing to partner with Nick during potions, Carrie had been glaring at Julie even more-so than usual. And now that Carrie had cornered her without any of her friends with her, it was time to face her wrath.

Luckily, Carrie did not, in fact, murder Julie on sight. Instead, she greeted her with a falsely warm smile. She looked perfect as ever, not a hair out of place. Her minions flanked her from either side.

“Julie,” the Slytherin greeted. 

“Carrie.”

The Slytherin thrust a vial of something under her nose. “Smell this.”

Julie backed away, dodging Carrie’s attempts at shoving a random potion under her nose. “Woah, what? Carrie, what are you doing?” Carrie attempted again, and Julie pushed her arm away. “Personal space please!”

“What do you smell?” Carrie asked, getting frustrated and waving the potion towards her again.

Julie eyed the vial warily. The potion looked harmless. Actually, it looked kind of pretty; it was light pink with a shiny surface, light steam curing off the top out of the open vial. “Why? Is this some kind of poison?” Julie asked. She would not put it past Carrie to literally poison her.

Retracting her arm, Carrie sighed, stopping her attempts to get the Ravenclaw to smell the potion by force. “Just tell me, please?” she asked. Her expression shifted slightly, her brow softening and the corners of her mouth turning down. “For… For our old friendship?” she questioned, looking at Julie with the closest thing to sincerity since they had stopped being friends.

Her ex-best friend hadn’t looked at her like that since third year when she inexplicably dropped Julie and Flynn overnight. As much as she hated to admit it, she still cared about Carrie. It might have been deep down, but it was still there.

“Well, I mean, if it’s really that important to you…” Julie said hesitantly, holding her hand out. Carrie placed the potion vial in her hand.

“It is,” Carrie assured. For a second, Julie thought she saw some guilt in her expression, but she shrugged it off.

Julie inhaled tentatively, the aroma of the potion hitting her for the first time. It actually smelled… amazing. “Oh… wow,” Julie exclaimed, taking another deep breath. “I smell… Old parchment. And… quidditch turf. Someone’s cologne.” Luke’s cologne, to be specific, but Carrie didn’t need to know that. “And my mom’s famous chicken noodle soup,” she exhaled. She smiled gently at the comforting smell.

Carrie’s expression twisted into something cruel and triumphant. “You do have a crush on my boyfriend! I knew it!” She accused shrilly. Everyone in the hallway turned to look at her. Her minions started murmuring amongst themselves. 

“Huh?”

An ugly smirk spread across Carrie’s face. “This is Amortentia, Julie,” she revealed. “You smell whatever you’re attracted to.”

Realization dawned across Julie’s face. “Oh,” she said quietly. So what she had smelled… That was what she was attracted to? Old parchment, quidditch turf, chicken noodle soup, and… Luke. It’s not like she was exactly surprised, but the confirmation made her stomach sink.

“Quidditch turf? Cologne?” Carrie laughed, her cronies echoing the laughter behind her. “It’s obviously Nick.” A lot of people in the hallway had stopped to watch the debacle.

Julie looked around at all the people watching her and nervously fiddled with her wand. Everyone’s eyes on her made her feel so small. “Carrie, c’mon, that’s a stretch,” Julie reasoned, “I doubt that Nick is the only quidditch player who wears cologne.”

“But you smell his cologne, don’t you?” she accused, pointing a finger at Julie’s chest.

“No, I don’t.”

This caught Carrie off guard. She doubled her intensity, taking a step closer to Julie. “Then who?”

Someone put a hand on Carrie’s shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. Nick. He looked like he had just fought his way through the crowd of students that was surrounding them. “Stop, Carrie,” he said firmly. “You’re being cruel.”

Carrie whirled on her boyfriend, her expression turning murderous. “How dare you take her side in this? You’re supposed to be MY boyfriend!” She screeched. The Slytherin then flipped her hair and stormed down the hallway, followed by her gaggle of friends. The crowd around them quickly dispersed, no more drama around to entertain them.

The Gryffindor turned to Julie with an apologetic expression on his face. “I’m sorry about her. That wasn’t cool.”

“Then why are you with her?” Julie snapped, annoyed with the way he put up with her terrible behavior. She knew that Nick was a good person, but he was still under the thumb of Carrie Wilson. Julie looked up at his face, and her eyes widened. She had just snapped… at Nick. After he had saved her from Carrie, nonetheless. “I’m sorry…” she apologized, looking at the floor, “That was-”

Nick held up a hand. “No, it’s fine. Honestly… I’m starting to wonder that too,” he revealed.

* * *

The fact that she smelled Luke in her Amortnetia had been bothering Julie all week. She didn’t like him. She couldn’t. She was just attracted to him, right? He was an objectively attractive person. _This is normal, Julie_ , she reassured herself. _Luke must be in half the school’s Amortentia_.

To make matters worse, she was about to start her first potions class with Nick as her new partner. Julie thanked her lucky stars that Amortentia wasn’t brewed until sixth year. She didn’t think she could deal with any more love magic.

As she entered the potions classroom with Flynn, her anxiety spiked. “Flynn… why did you make me do this?” She asked the girl by her side.

Flynn rolled her eyes. “Because it’s time you make a move on that fine piece of Gryffindor hunk, Julie,” she said, gesturing to Nick at the front of the classroom. He was facing away from them, but his blonde hair glinted in the dim light. “You’ve been pining forever! It’s time you get a move on that!”

“But now you have to find a new partner,” Julie worried.

“I’ll find someone,” Flynn reassured, pushing Julie in front of her, towards where her new potions partner was seated. “Now go! Don’t keep him waiting.”

Julie stumbled over to Nick, shooting Flynn a glare over her shoulder. Her best friend winked at her, then went to go find a new partner.

A smile lit up Nick’s face when he saw her approaching their table. “Hey Julie,” he greeted.

She slid into the seat next to him. “Hey, Nick. What’s up?”

“Ready to crush this potion.”

“Same.”

A comfortable silence fell between them as the class settled into their seats. They both prepped their station, taking out ingredients, and reading over the instructions.

Nick broke the silence, turning to her. “Look, before we start, I just wanted to say sorry about Carrie. I don’t know what’s gotten into her lately, but she really has it out for you.”

“Yeah, trust me, I know,” Julie mumbled, lighting the fire underneath the cauldron. She started by filling the cauldron with syrup of hellebore, stirring counterclockwise. 

“Why does she hate you so much?” the Gryffindor asked, puzzled. “I thought you guys used to be best friends.”

Julie sighed. “We were. I don’t know why she hates me. One day she just… stopped talking to me and Flynn.” It was like Carrie had become a completely different person overnight. She still thought about it sometimes; she spent many sleepless nights in third year wondering what she possibly could have done to make Carrie despise her like that.

“I’m sorry,” Nick apologized.

The Ravenclaw shrugged. “It’s not your fault.” She changed her stirring direction, continuing until the potion turned green. “Enough about Carrie. How was your day today?” Julie asked, trying to change the topic.

Nick opened his mouth to respond, but a wave of confusion passed over his face. “Fine, I think?” He responded, rubbing his head as if it hurt. “For some reason, I can’t really remember. That’s weird.”

“Did you bonk your head too hard in Quidditch practice?” Julie joked.

Nick chuckled and added some crushed porcupine quills, changing the potion’s color to a deep blue. “Okay, Molina, very funny,” he responded, picking up a moonstone off their ingredient pile and throwing it around like a Quaffle. “I don’t _bonk_ my head. I am an expert.”

As soon as he said that, he fumbled the moonstone throw, throwing it just slightly too far back. It landed with a large thump on his head, rolling onto the floor. Nick yelped and rubbed his head tenderly where the moonstone had just hit him.

Julie and Nick made eye contact and broke out into laughter.

* * *

Flynn watched Julie and Nick laugh from the back of the classroom. They seemed to be getting along well. _Who’s the best friend in the entire world? Oh, that’s right. Me._

Turning back to her lab station, she rolled up her sleeves, preparing to complete her potion by herself. Before she could begin, a girl walked up to her table. Her Slytherin tie was untied around her neck, the top few buttons of her shirt left unbuttoned. She looked cool in an unbothered sort of way, as if she rolled out of bed like that and couldn’t be bothered to adhere to the uniform code.

“Hey,” the girl greeted as she approached, smiling at Flynn. “Do you have a partner yet? Mine totally bailed on me today.”

“No, I don’t actually,” Flynn responded.

“Wanna be partners?” the Slytherin girl asked, flicking her chin-length black hair out of her face.

“Sure!” Flynn responded, clearing off some extra stuff from the table to make room for her. The girl slid into the seat. “I’m Flynn,” she introduced herself, holding out a hand.

“Eva,” the girl responded, shaking her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Now that Flynn was sitting right next to her, she couldn’t help but notice things about Eva. Like, for example, how tall she was. At least a head taller than Flynn, if not more. Also… how cool her winged eyeliner looked with her blue eyes. Also… how pretty she was.

 _Am I staring? I’m totally staring_ , Flynn panicked internally. She looked away. _Be cool Flynn!_

“I hope you’re good at this stuff because I am not so great at potions,” Flynn said, trying to break the ice.

Eva smirked and shrugged. “I’m pretty good at potions, If I do say so myself. I can carry the workload.” She moved the cauldron towards her, throwing in the first ingredient. She barely even looked at the instructions laid out in front of her.

“Okay, hello confidence,” Flynn said, dumbfounded.

“Hey, you asked. I answered,” Eva defended. She picked up the chopping knife from off the table in front of them and held it out to Flynn. “Do you think you could handle crushing the porcupine quills?” She goaded, a teasing glint in her eyes.

Flynn grabbed the knife out of the other girl’s hands. “I can, in fact, use a knife. Don’t test me.” She pointed the knife at Eva threateningly, who laughed. She chopped for a few moments before turning to the raven-haired girl. “Why even partner with me if you could do it yourself anyway?”

Eva looked over at Flynn, winking exaggeratedly. “Eye candy.”

That made Flynn turn bright red. Eva started laughing hysterically at the expression on the other girl’s face. _Leave it to me to partner with the most beautiful asshole in all of Hogwarts,_ Flynn thought grumpily. _Just my luck._

* * *

It was late, Alex was tired, and the absolute last thing that he wanted was to go on patrol. After the whole Amortentia debacle in potions, all he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and go to sleep. Alas, he had prefect duty tonight and had to walk the corridors for a couple of hours, looking for students that were out of bed and/or getting up to mischief. If he caught one more couple kissing in a broom cupboard, he was going to lose his mind.

On his way to check in for patrol, he ran into Luke exiting the Hufflepuff common room. “Alex!” Luke greeted, walking up to him. He put his arm around the blonde’s shoulders as they were walking. “Room of requirement. Let’s go! I had a terrible day today and could use some music time.”

Alex shook his head. “I can’t. I have to go patrol. And my usual patrol partner is sick, so I have to spend two hours roaming the castle alone.”

Luke grimaced. “Fun.”

“Yeah,” the prefect monotoned, “So fun.” Alex took out his wand and lit it with a quiet whisper of _lumos_. “But I’ll definitely meet you guys there after patrol is done,” he promised.

The brunette shot him a thumbs up. “Sounds good. Catch you later.”

Alex waved goodbye and parted ways with his best friend, starting towards the Great Hall to check in for his patrol. After checking in with the Head Boy and Head Girl, respectively, he started on his route. 

He had a normal patrol for an hour and thirty-seven minutes. He patrolled the halls, catching a couple of students out of bed but sending them away with only a warning. Luckily, he only caught one couple making out in an empty classroom, and they were mostly dressed. Well, they were mostly dressed by the time he came in. He made sure to make a lot of noise while approaching the classroom, moving comically slow to give them time to get dressed.

An hour and thirty-eight minutes into patrol, everything changed.

As Alex was rounding the deepest corner of the dungeons, near the potions classroom, he spotted something strange. Unlike all of the other classroom doors, there was one that was slightly ajar, faint firelight flickering into the hallway. He heard faint whispers coming from inside the room, two voices he couldn’t quite make out. Alex almost asked who it was to show themselves, but something stopped him.

Peeking his head around the corner, he saw a figure in a black cloak sitting in front of a fire flickering in the hearth of the empty classroom. Many of the classrooms in the dungeons had fireplaces due to the natural chill of this part of the castle, but this fire was different; the firelight was regular orange, but the flames themselves were bright green.

The figure in the black cloak was mostly obscured in darkness. Alex could make out a hint of blonde hair peeking out from under the hood. The figure in the cloak seemed to be in a hushed conversation with the fireplace, as crazy as Alex thought he sounded.

“It’s nearly time. Professor Ogra recited the whole prophecy just last week,” the figure in the cloak reported to the fire, bowing their head.

A deep voice resonated from the fire. “Any idea who the three could be?”

“Not yet.”

The fire crackled louder. “And the students that caught Staghart and Rooke in the Room of Requirement?”

Alex sucked in a breath. _Are they talking about… us?_ Alex thought. _They have to be_. The cloaked figure shook their head. “Unsure. The beetle statue has been taken, presumably by them. I don’t think they are a threat, but they are definitely on to something.”

“I don’t foresee them becoming an issue. Just to be safe, we can dispose of them first after I rise.”

Alex recoiled in shock, stepping backward and making a slight noise with his foot. He ducked out of the doorway immediately, narrowly avoiding the gaze of the hooded figure.

“Did you hear that?” The cloaked figure asked panickily.

“No. But to be safe, head back to your dormitory. I will contact you again soon.” The fire voice crackled ominously. Swallowing the anxiety that was welling in his throat, Alex turned down the hallway and started speed walking as quietly as he could.

He faintly heard “Thank you, my lord” from down the hallway. As soon as he got a safe distance away from the dungeons, he broke into a full-on sprint to the Room of Requirement.

Bursting in through the door, he alarmed Julie, Reggie, Flynn, and Luke, who looked at him as he closed the doors behind him hastily. He leaned back against the door.

Alex took one deep breath as he tried to center himself. Finally looking at his friends, he saw all of their puzzled faces looking at his sweaty and frazzled appearance.

He only had one thing to say to them. “We’re absolutely screwed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry not sorry i added a love interest for flynn. i have no excuse, i'm just ~gay~ lmao 
> 
> Next Up: An announcement excites all of Hogwarts. Bring your dancing shoes.


	7. Waltzing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi um please don't kill me i know i havent updated in forever but i still love u guys O.O enjoy this chapter hehe and please if u comment it would make my entire life

Alex scanned over the students in Great Hall carefully, his eyes skimming over the crowd. He inspected every head of blonde hair he saw, trying to determine if that could be the one he saw talking to Covington. However, it was quickly proving impossible; he had no idea what the guy even looked like. He only knew that the student had blonde hair and was a male, because of the voice. Even if he heard the voice again, he wasn’t sure he could identify it.

He should have been paying closer attention, but it all happened so fast. Not to mention the panic that was creeping through his body, making it nearly impossible to hold any coherent thought.

Julie, Luke, and Reggie were also scanning the tables, trying to help him find the culprit. “Okay, so it was a male student? You’re sure?” Reggie asked, looking around.

“Yes,” Alex responded.

“Blonde?”

“Yes.”

“That narrows it down.” Julie quipped. “It could be him.” She pointed to a blonde Hufflepuff passing by them. “Or him.” She pointed to another male, blonde student. “Or him…” She pointed to yet another, who was seated at the Ravenclaw table.

“Or Nick,” Luke chimed in, nodding over to the Gryffindor, who was eating porridge at his house's table.

Julie shot a glare at him. “Very funny, Luke."

“Look, at least it’s a starting point,” Alex defended, running a hand through his blonde hair. “Most of their conversation didn’t even make sense to me, so it’s not like there’s much we can learn from that. Something about a prophecy, I think…?” Alex tried to remember, shaking his head.

Julie’s head snapped over to Alex so fast that he thought she was going to get whiplash. “Wait, a prophecy? You didn’t mention that last night.”

“Sorry, Julie. I was a little preoccupied with the fact that they said they were going to _kill us_!” He whispered the last words worriedly, his stress seeping through.

The Ravenclaw leaned in closer to the boys, lowering her voice to make sure no one would overhear. “I wonder if it has any connection with the prophecy I heard the other day-”

She was cut off by Headmistress Lessa’s booming voice, which echoed around the room. “Attention students!” she bellowed, holding out her hands to silence the hall of students. “Settle down, settle down. I have a very important and exciting announcement to make!”

The headmistress stepped out from behind her podium, a smile on her face. “This year, to promote inter-house unity and camaraderie, we have decided to host a Yule Ball.” As soon as the words _Yule Ball_ left her lips, excited murmurs broke out amongst the students.

Julie and Flynn turned to each other and squealed in excitement. Despite everything that was going on, Alex also couldn’t help but feel excited about the ball. He looked over at his two best friends, wondering what they thought of the newly announced event. Reggie’s smile was contagious, his eyes bouncing around the Great Hall, no doubt already thinking of people to ask as a date. Luke was trying really hard not to look at Julie, and miserably failing.

“Yes, I know what you guys are thinking. Usually, the Yule Ball is a tradition reserved for the Triwizard tournament. However, I think we could all use a bit of fun this year. Fourth years and up will be allowed to attend. There will be mandatory dancing lessons in the Great Hall, starting tomorrow. Let the festivities begin!”

The moment she ended her speech, the volume in the Great Hall reached a heightened volume, voices chattering over each other. The excitement in the air was palpable.

Alex only had one thought running through his mind. Or, rather, one very specific person he wanted to ask. One very specific Slytherin who would look rather dashing in a suit.

“A Yule ball!” Flynn exclaimed, “You guys, this is so exciting!”

“I’m with you, Flynn. This is going to be fun,” Reggie agreed. He nudged Luke with his shoulder, who was grinning.

“We can go dress shopping! And suit shopping!” Flynn clapped her hands in delight. “Oh my gosh, I have to go start planning!” She launched into a mile-a-minute planning rant, laying out all of the things they had to do before the big day.

Alex didn’t even realize it at the time, but all prior thoughts of Covington and a prophecy had slipped through his mind like quicksand.

* * *

“Line up everyone!” the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher bellowed, closing the classroom blinds with a flick of her wand. Candlelight flickered against the walls, making everything seem a little bit eerier.

Julie, who had been spacing out during the first part of class thinking about the upcoming Yule Ball, watched as students started to shuffle themselves into a line. She looked at Flynn, a look of confusion on her face. 

“You missed that whole introductory speech, didn’t you?” her best friend asked, crossing her arms. Julie nodded guiltily.

“Yeah,” the curly-haired girl admitted. She needed to stop daydreaming. It was becoming a problem. “What are we doing?”

“Boggarts,” Flynn answered, pulling Julie into line behind her. They were somewhere in the middle, sandwiched between fellow Ravenclaws and some Slytherins, with whom they shared the class.

Julie felt her blood turn ice cold at the mention of boggarts. “No,” she whispered, her eyes widening. She knew what her boggart was going to be, and she didn’t know if she could handle living through her worst nightmare again.

A sympathetic look crossed Flynn’s face as she realized the stress that this would put Julie through. “Just go to the back. Hopefully, they won’t have time to get to you,” she whispered, pushing Julie to the back of the line. Julie nodded and ducked her way to the back of the line, making sure she was the last to go.

One by one, the students began to face their boggarts. There were one or two who had particularly terrifying fears, but other than that, it was just the usual; spiders, snakes, a couple of clowns. Flynn’s own boggart had turned into a terrifyingly vicious rabbit.

Before she knew it, she was the only one left who hadn’t faced her boggart. Julie took a deep breath and stepped forward, confronting the boggart. The boggart swirled around, changing shapes for a few moments before it played out her worst fear right in front of her.

 _Crack._ Her mom’s dead body laid rigid on the floor.

“R-ridikulous” She choked, flicking her wand at the body.

The spell didn’t change the boggart to something funny. Julie was too deep in her head swimming in grief for the spell to work. 

_Crack._ The body shifted from her mom to her dad. His eyes were staring unseeingly at the ceiling.

“RIDICULOUS!” she shouted in anguish. It was again, ineffective.

 _Crack._ It was Carlos this time. Her brother’s body laid in front of her, shockingly still.

She couldn’t take it anymore. Julie ran out of the room, her vision blurred with tears.

People were calling after her, but she didn’t care. She ran and ran and ran until she found an empty classroom. She pulled the door shut behind her, a sob escaping her lips. Once she started, it all flooded out like a damn.

 _It wasn’t real,_ Julie thought, trying to calm herself down. _C’mon, Julie, you KNOW it isn’t real!_ Her breath evened out a bit, but tears kept streaming down her cheeks.

Time seemed to slip through her fingers. She didn’t know how long she sat there, trying to calm herself down.

She was jolted by the sound of the door opening. Luke stuck his head through the door tentatively. “Hey, Julie,” he greeted softly, coming to kneel right in front of her. She was sure that she looked like an absolute mess, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“How did you know I was in here?” Julie sniffled. She couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye, embarrassed at her current state.

“Flynn. She told me about the boggart.” He shuffled a little closer to her, sitting down on the ground. “You alright?”

Julie shook her head, frustration welling up in her chest, pushing on the fear that had already been settled there. “I feel like such an idiot. I knew it wasn’t real, yet in the moment I still froze up.” Her hands were turning white with how tightly she was clenching them.

Luke took Julie’s hands in his and unfurled them, preventing them from clenching. “Hey, don’t say that.” He said, finally making eye contact with her. Looking into his eyes made her want to cry all over again. “You’re too hard on yourself, Julie. Sometimes you need to give yourself a break.”

“I know. I just… seeing her like that was just…” She choked. Luke squeezed her hands gently, silently reminding her to take a breath. She took one deep breath in and out. “It reminded me of her funeral,” she admitted. “She was so still, so… unlike her. It was like a terrible dream.”

The brunette nodded, absorbing every word she was saying. “Tell me about her?” He asked gently.

She thought of her best memories of her mom. “She was funny, really witty. My dad said that was what he liked best about her.” A small smile started slowly spreading across her face. “She was an amazing songwriter, a real music junkie. She used to teach me and my brother Carlos how to play the piano.”

Luke still hadn’t let go of her hands, something that she was becoming increasingly aware of as she calmed down. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“He’ll come to Hogwarts next year.” The thought of Carlos running through the halls causing mischief everywhere he went made her chuckle. “That should be something.”

“Another Ravenclaw?”

“Maybe. He’s wicked smart. A little too smart for his own good, so maybe Slytherin.”

“I don’t know if Hogwarts can handle two Molinas,” Luke joked. “I guess we’ll see.”

Julie exhaled as she realized that panic was no longer coursing through her. Now, all she felt was exhaustion.

Luke let go of her hands, and she found herself strangely disappointed. “Feeling better?” he asked,

“A little.” She gave him a small smile.

A glint crossed his eye. He leaped to his feet, dusting off his hands “Okay, stand up. I’m gonna give you one of my signature Luke pep talks,” he announced, helping her to her feet. “You should consider yourself lucky, these are usually just reserved for my Quidditch team.”

Julie rolled her eyes and grinned, putting her hand on her heart. “I’m honored.”

“Julie,” he announced dramatically, “You’re the smartest, most talented, kick-ass witch I’ve ever met. Today was rough, but you powered through it.” His bravado tapered off more and more as he went on, leaving only sincerity in his voice for the end. “You’re… you’re amazing, Julie.”

Their eyes were drawn to each other, like two ends of a magnet. Julie couldn’t tear her eyes away from Luke’s no matter how hard she tried. This was wobbling on the edge of something. Something Julie couldn't put her finger on. “I’m sure you say that to all the girls,” she tried to joke, attempting to break the tension.

“No,” Luke promised sincerely, “Just you.”

* * *

Julie felt like she was missing something obvious. As a Ravenclaw, this was bothering her more than it should have.

She was definitely missing something about the whole Covington situation. They hadn’t made much progress in finding out who the mystery student was, which was stressing her out.

And… she was definitely missing something about Luke. She couldn’t figure out why she felt so nervous, yet so excited to see him. Why being around him made her feel like Christmas morning. It just… didn’t make sense. 

Speaking of Luke, she caught his eye across the large classroom. He, Reggie, and Alex were all goofing off on the other side of the classroom. All three of them gave her a wave, which she returned. The fifth and sixth year students were all standing around awkwardly, about to get their dance lesson from Headmistress Lessa and Professor Harrison. They were separated by gender, with boys on the right side of the classroom and girls on the left.

Flynn, who was by her side, also waved over to the boys. She seemed to be looking around for someone but was unable to find them.

“Welcome to your formal Yule Ball dance lesson, fifth and sixth years!” Headmistress Lessa greeted. “We will be partnering you up to keep things fair, so no complaining.” Even though she said no complaining, a groan arose from the crowd.

One by one, the students got partnered up. When Professor Harrison finally got to her, dread filled her stomach. Dancing really wasn’t her forte. “Julie. you’re with Nick,” the professor announced, gesturing to the blonde Gryffindor who was standing on the boys' side.

 _Now I’m going to look like an idiot in front of Nick,_ Julie thought _. Great._

Nick walked over to her and smiled, nodding his head in greeting. “Cool. Hey Julie.”

“Hey, Nick.” She greeted. They stood there awkwardly for a moment. Julie looked around the room, and everyone seemed to be looking equally as awkward, which was a relief. “I’m a little nervous about this,” she revealed to her partner. “I don’t really know how to dance.”

Nick let out a breath of relief. “Me neither,” he said. That made her feel a little bit better. Then, he held out his hand as an invitation, his cheeks a little flushed. “Maybe we can figure it out together?”

She took his hand and positioned herself in his arms to dance, smiling. “Sounds good.”

The headmistress’s voice was loud and clear over the quiet hum of the students chatting. She gave the students an overview of the steps, then instructed the students to begin.

One second, Julie was dancing with Nick awkwardly in the middle of a sea of people. The next, everything quieted. She blinked, and she was dancing with Luke in a room with only them.

Luke, in her arms. Luke, guiding her through the steps. Luke, filling her mind until there was room for nothing else.

Everything seemed so real as Luke danced with her; his radiant smile, the smell of his cologne, the warmth of his body as it pressed against hers. The way he spun her around effortlessly, causing her to laugh. A quiet melody filled her head, somewhere between dreaming and reality.

And the realization hit her. There was no place she would rather be than in his arms. It was like they were in perfect harmony with one another.

Luke dipped her, their faces inches apart. Her breath hitched. Then, suddenly, he spun her out of his arms. She was spinning, spinning-

Right into Nick’s arms. Reality crashed back down around her, breaking her out of her daydream. Here she was, in Nick’s arms, and all she could think about was Luke.

“That was great!” Nick exclaimed, giving her a bright smile. “You’re a natural.”

Unease welled up in Julie’s stomach. “Thanks...” she responded hastily, pulling herself out of his arms. “I have to go!” She blurted suddenly, speed walking out of the Great Hall.

Nick watched her leave in confusion. “Bye?”

* * *

The headmistress beckoned for Alex to come over to her. As Alex approached, he saw a raven-haired Slytherin standing next to her. “Alex, you are partnered with Eva. Go ahead.” The headmistress said, walking over to pair up a different couple.

The Slytherin girl was unfamiliar to him, but he could have sworn he saw her sitting next to Willie sometimes in the Great Hall. Not that he was looking at Willie or anything. Sometimes his gaze just _happened_ to fall on Willie for long amounts of time. Completely normal.

“Hey,” she greeted with a cool nod. “You’re Alex, right?” she asked.

“Yeah. Nice to meet you,” he greeted, holding out a hand. She looked at his hand amusedly before shaking it.

“Nice to meet you too. Have any dancing experience?” She asked, loosening her green tie and rolling up her sleeves. 

“Some,” Alex admitted. “My parents are purebloods.”

She gave him an understanding grimace. “Same here. Decorum lessons?”

“Yes!” he exclaimed, glad to have someone who understood. None of his other friends were purebloods, and sometimes they just couldn't understand the intense familial pressure that Alex felt. 

“Those were the worst. The dancing parts especially.” She shuttered, remembering the hours spent in stuffy outfits practicing boring dances over and over and over again.

Alex thought back to his childhood. “I always thought the etiquette lessons were the worst. Learning all about the different types of forks, shockingly, hasn’t been all that helpful in everyday life.”

She laughed. “I used to put puking potions in the instructor’s soup during etiquette lessons,” she revealed in a hushed tone, mischief lighting up in her eyes. “He was not happy.”

“That’s amazing. I wish I would have thought of that.” Alex said wistfully.

Their conversation was cut short by the headmistress instructing them on the steps, then telling them to begin. A tinny, orchestral song began playing out of the ancient phonograph on one side of the room.

Before Alex could even offer Eva his hand, she took his and pulled him closer. He let out a yelp of surprise. As they started dancing, the blonde desperately tried to remember anything about ballroom lessons from his childhood. He was unsuccessful. Eva was dragging him around like a wet noodle, leading them through the dance. Alex stepped on her foot. She hissed in pain. He apologized profusely, but she waved him off with a grimace. 

“This... is not working,” Eva said after the first song had ended. The second song had already started warbling through the air. They just ended up shuffling along, trying to look like they were dancing while not actually doing anything.

“Yeah, your right,” Alex agreed. Eva was cool, but her dancing style… was a little too aggressive for him.

Eva looked around the room, looking for someone. Her face lit up, spotting whatever she was looking for. “What if we switched partners? Willie!” At the mention of Willie’s name, Alex’s heart skipped a beat. She waved over to the other side of the room, beckoning Willie to come closer.

Alex nearly laughed out loud when he saw that Willie’s dance partner was Flynn. “What’s up Eva?” Willie greeted as he and Flynn danced next to them. Flynn gave Alex a brief greeting.

“Switch partners with me!” She called, stepping away from Alex. Willie spun Flynn into Eva’s arms in one fluid motion. The shorter girl landed in Eva’s arms smoothly. “Hi Flynn,” Eva greeted, pulling them into a box step.

“Oh!” Flynn exclaimed in surprise. “You wanna be _my_ partner?”

Eva nodded. “If that’s okay with you.”

Flynn pretended to think about it. “I guess I can allow it… If you can keep up.” Eva’s grin grew as she whisked Flynn away, disappearing into the crowd of dancing students. “Bye guys!” Flynn called over her shoulder.

Willie let out a low whistle. “That was smooth as hell.”

“Eva’s got game,” Alex agreed, watching them as they danced off.

When they were out of sight, Willie turned to Alex. “Do you wanna...” He held out his hand, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh! Yeah, sure.” The Hufflepuff hoped that his face didn’t look as red as the heat that was coursing through his cheeks. He placed his hand in Willie’s, his heart picking up speed. He cleared his throat. “Just to warn you, I’m not a very good- WOAH!”

Willie pulled him flush against his body and dipped him in one fluid movement. “Just follow my lead, hot dog.”

Alex could have sworn that he died, right then and there.

* * *

Julie Molina could no longer deny the obvious.

She liked Luke. Like, _like-liked_ him. Maybe even _more than liked_ him.

After her very, very vivid daydream during dance lessons, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. How had she not realized it? Her heart skipped a beat whenever she saw him. She smelled him in her Amortentia. Just looking at him, talking to him made her entire day better.

And now, she was stuck with this realization. And stuck with how to keep it from ruining her friendship.

When she saw Flynn walking down the hallway after the dance lesson, she almost cried in relief. “FLYNN!” She shouted, running up to her best friend and pulling her into an alcove. A startled noise left Flynn’s mouth. “We have a problem. A big, huge, boy-shaped problem!” Julie whispered, looking around to make sure no one was around to overhear them.

The confusion on Flynn’s face morphed into understanding. “Ah. I knew this one was coming.” She smirked. “What made you finally realize that you like Luke?”

Julie sputtered. “Wha- How did you know?”

“Best friend intuition, girl,” Flynn winked.

She revealed the details of her vivid daydream. Well, some of them. Not all of them. But enough so Flynn could get the gist. “I don’t know what to do,” she said, rounding out her story.

While Julie was wracked with nerves, Flynn looked like a kid in a candy store. “Tell him!” She enthused, bouncing on the heels of her feet.

“I can’t. What if he doesn’t feel the same?” Julie bit her lower lip. She could almost hear Luke’s voice in her head. _Woah, Julie_ , he would say. _You’re awesome but… not like that. Sorry._ “I can’t risk our friendship like that,” she said firmly.

“I get that.” Flynn relented, pouting. “What about Nick?”

“He’s nice, but…”

“He’s not Luke,” she finished her sentence for her. Julie sighed. Flynn knew her a little too well sometimes. 

* * *

Amongst the excitement of the Yule ball, Luke had almost forgotten that they had a Quidditch game tomorrow. Almost being the keyword. As soon as he remembered, he had called an emergency practice session.

After practice had ended, he walked with Charlie, the Hufflepuff seeker, out of the locker rooms and into the hallway. The second-year boy walked next to him, at least two heads shorter than Luke. “Good job at practice today, Charlie!" Luke enthused. "Just work on leaning a little bit further forward on your broom, and we’ll totally smoke Gryffindor in our game tomorrow.” 

Charlie beamed, soaking in the praise of the quidditch captain. “Thanks, Luke!” His nose was smudged with dirt.

“Get lots of sleep tonight, okay?” Luke ruffled his hair affectionately. “I need you at your best tomorrow-”

He was cut off by Reggie and Alex approaching them. “Hey, Luke!” Alex greeted. “How was Quidditch practice?”

“Great!” Luke answered. “Tiring, but great.”

Alex then noticed the second year standing by Luke’s side. “Oh, you’re the new seeker, right?” 

Luke looked down at Charlie, who was blatantly staring up at Alex. His face was bright red and he looked absolutely dumbfounded. “Y-Yes. That’s me,” Charlie stuttered, turning more and more red every second. If he turned any redder, he would have been a tomato.

“I’m Alex.” Alex greeted kindly. “This is Reggie." He gestured to his friend on the left, who gave the seeker a wave. "It’s nice to meet you!” He held out his hand, which the second-year shook hesitantly. When their hands connected, Luke could have sworn that Charlie let out a small squeak. “You did great in the first game," Alex assured. 

At the sound of Alex’s praise, Charlie literally swooned on his feed. His blush had reached all the way down his neck at this point. “Thanksgottagobye-” he mumbled, glancing at Alex one more time before running down the hallway, stumbling as he ran.

Luke pouted as he watched Charlie run off. “You broke my seeker!”

“Did I say something wrong?” Alex frowned.

Reggie shook his head, chuckling. “I think you just caused Charlie to hit puberty.” Luke and Reggie broke out into peals of laughter.

Alex rolled his eyes and elbowed Reggie in the side, which caused Reggie to nearly fall over. “Shut up,” Alex mumbled.

Raised voices started echoing through the hallway. Carrie’s shrill tone bounced off the walls, mixed with Nick’s deeper tone. Luke sighed. “Watch out, here comes trouble.”

Nick was nearly jogging to keep up with Carrie, who was speed walking away from him at breakneck speed. Her nose was turned up as she strutted down the hallway.

“I’m breaking up with you, Carrie. For good,” Nick called after her, stopping his pursuit. He stood his ground and crossed his arms.

Carrie whipped around, her hair whipping around so fast it could have been a hazard. “No, you’re not,” She insisted firmly. The couple was so wrapped up in their argument that they didn’t seem to notice Luke, Alex, and Reggie standing a little way down the hallway.

“Yes, I am! How many times do I have to repeat it?”

“You can’t break up with me!” Carrie shrilled, stomping her foot. 

The Gryffindor shook his head. “I can and I am. Carrie, I care about you, but you’re not the same person you were when we started dating.”

The three Hufflepuffs shared a look between them. Nick seemed more serious than they had ever seen him. He was usually a very easy-going guy, so this was a big shift in demeanor.

Carrie stalked up to Nick until they were nose to nose, glaring at him. “You’re going to regret this,” she swore.

“Actually... I don’t think I am.” At Nick’s response, Carrie let out a few curse words and stalked away from him down the hallway.

After she was gone, Nick seemed lost in thought. He finally caught sight of the three Hufflepuffs, who were staring at him blatantly. Alex and Reggie were looking at him sympathetically. Luke, on the other hand, looked at him with narrowed eyes.

When Nick caught their gaze, they all hastily looked away and bustled down the hallway, trying to make it look like they hadn’t just been watching their breakup.

As they walked away, Luke couldn’t shake the feeling that Julie had something to do with their breakup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh julie. ur so oblivious girl. but she finally admitted her feelings! 
> 
> NEXT: Some people get asked to the Yule Ball. Some don't.


	8. Inquiry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> halfway done! time really flies, holy cow. this chapter is the calm before the storm.
> 
> as always, reviews are literally my inspiration so if you would, erm, like to leave me one i would love you forever and ever. I LOVE hearing your guy's predictions and thoughts.

_Victory has never tasted so sweet_ , Luke thought as he touched down on the Quidditch pitch after a hard-won victory against the Gryffindor team. Charlie had made an amazing snitch catch to end the game, pushing them ahead of the other team. Although Luke’s arm was aching from a questionably legal bludger hit early in the game, he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face.

He dismounted his broom quickly, careful not to jostle his arm too much. The other Hufflepuff players were dismounting rapidly, running to him in victory. He embraced one, then another, then all of them until they were in a giant group hug.

“WE DID IT!” Luke shouted over the roar of the crowd, laughing in glee. The other players whooped around him. “ALL THANKS TO CHARLIE!”

The second-year seeker held the snitch victoriously in the air. The two Hufflepuff beaters lifted Charlie onto their shoulders as the other team members chanted his name. Luke couldn’t be any prouder; the seeker had caught the snitch with some serious skill, pulling a dive Luke had never even seen before.

The team carried Charlie off of the field and back towards the castle, no doubt about to get into some locker room post-win shenanigans. He turned back to the crowd, watching them all start to filter out of the stands. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure in a Gryffindor uniform approach him. 

It was Nick. He held out his hand for a sportsmanlike handshake. “Hey, great job Luke,” he congratulated sincerely. “That was a killer win.”

Luke shook his hand, flinching as his injured arm was jostled. He made sure to school his face into a friendly expression, even if he didn’t really like Nick. “Thanks. You guys played well.” He rolled his shoulder slowly, trying to work out some of the pain in his arm. “Your beater’s got one hell of an arm, though.” 

Nick winced in sympathy. “Sorry about that.”

“No biggie. It’s gonna bruise, but nothing is broken,” Luke reassured.

“Glad to hear it.” The Gryffindor hesitated for a moment, opening his mouth. “So, this is kind of awkward, but I was wondering…” he hesitated again. Luke raised an eyebrow. “You’re close with Julie, right?” Nick asked.

Luke stiffened. The polite smile that had been on his face started dropping. He knew where this was going. “Yeah…”

“Are you guys…?” Nick raised his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

The implication made Luke’s chest uncomfortably tight. “Me and Julie? Whaaat?” he said, his voice going high. He avoided eye contact, looking anywhere but at the guy right in front of him. “No, absolutely not. We’re friends. Just friends. That’s it. Best friends,” he said awkwardly. As much as Luke wanted to scream _you better stay away from her_ , he couldn’t.

Relief washed over Nick’s face. “Oh. Good!” he said brightly.

“Good?”

Nick hesitated once more. “I was kinda thinking about asking her out,” he revealed. Luke sharply inhaled. It took every single ounce of his manpower not to outright scowl.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Didn’t you just dump Carrie, like, yesterday?” Luke asked bluntly.

Nick blanched. “Yeah, but-”

They were interrupted by a member of the Hufflepuff team yelling from the castle entrance. “Luke! C’mon!” the player yelled, beckoning him over. It was a welcome interruption. The last thing he wanted to be doing was talking about his crush’s crush.

Luke turned back to Nick. “I gotta go,” he said, slinging his broom over his shoulder. “Word of advice? Don’t mess around with Julie’s feelings,” he said seriously, looking dead into the Gryffindor’s eyes. He knew Julie could fight her own battles, but he had to get this off his chest. “If you hurt her…”

“You don’t have to threaten me, Luke. I’m not a bad guy,” Nick promised.

Luke gave him a stiff smile as he walked away. “I guess we’ll see,” he responded, then turned away, walking to the castle entrance.

As soon as his face was turned away from Nick, he huffed. Leave it to the Gryffindor to suck any joy out of his Quidditch victory.

* * *

Flynn was positively glowing as she walked through the courtyard. Her good mood was infectious, her smile a million watts. She spotted Julie sitting by herself reading a book, a rare quiet moment without her boys. Snow was falling lightly from the sky. Julie’s curls were dusted with white, a large cloak wrapped around her shoulders.

“Hello, my beautiful best friend!” Flynn greeted, practically floating while walking towards her.

Julie looked up at her, returning her smile. “Someone’s in a chipper mood this afternoon,” she said. “Are you that happy about Hufflepuff winning against Gryffindor?” she asked, referencing the earlier Quidditch game.

Flynn shook her head. “Girl, please. Not even gorgeous Quidditch players are enough to get me interested in sports.” Julie chuckled at that, closing her book and placing it next to her.

“So, what’s got you so smiley?”

Flynn bounced on the heels of her feet, unable to contain her glee. “I may or may not just have gotten asked to the Yule Ball.”

The other Ravenclaw leaped to her feet, jumping up and down in excitement. “Get out! This is amazing,” she gushed. Then, confusion crossed her face. She stopped jumping. “Wait… Who asked you?”

“Eva,” Flynn sighed dreamily.

Ever since the Slytherin had twirled her in her arms during last week’s dance practice, Flynn hadn’t been able to get her out of her head. She was hoping that the taller girl would ask her, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up too high. Then, just last hour, Eva had cornered her outside her classroom, looking uncharacteristically nervous, and asked her if she would go to the Yule ball with her.

“No way… Eva? Eva your potions partner?” Julie asked, her eyes gleaming.

“Yes!”

“Oh my gosh! This is incredible,” Julie gushed, pulling Flynn into a hug. She spun her around, laughing. “I’m so happy for you.” 

“Thanks. I had no idea that she even liked me, but I’m really excited.” Flynn revealed, taking a seat on the bench Julie had been reading on. Julie sat back down next to her. “Has a certain someone asked you yet?”

Julie sighed, looking down at her hands. “No, and he’s not going to. Luke and I are just friends,” she insisted.

“Mhmm,” Flynn made a skeptical noise. “And how would you feel if he asked someone else?”

The Ravenclaw stilled. “I… would… be fine with it,” she gritted out, looking determinedly down at her book.

“You’re a liar, Julie Molina,” Flynn accused.

“Look, no one’s going to ask me, alright?” Julie said, shutting her book. She wasn’t kidding anyone; she couldn’t focus right now. “I’m not exactly a hot commodity, Flynn.”

Flynn just shook her head and wrapped her arm around Julie’s shoulder. “Just you wait, Julie.”

* * *

When Willie asked him to study in the library, Alex was expecting to get at least some homework done. Unfortunately, it was becoming obvious that was not going to happen.

It seemed like every five minutes their studying got interrupted by a Yule Ball proposal. Alex watched each one wistfully.

The most current one, which was just wrapping up in front of him, really made his heart ache. Maybe it was the fact that it was between two boys, a blonde and a brunette. Maybe it was the fact that the proposal was so romantic, it made his heart yearn. The brunette had given the blonde a dozen roses and spelled a giant sparkly heart into the air before asking the fated question.

Not that Alex wanted anything that flashy. It was more about the heartfelt declaration of feelings that had followed the proposal than anything.

Willie looked over at the two boys, letting out a low whistle. “That’s like the seventh Yule ball proposal we’ve seen,” he stated.

“Yeah, it’s getting close. Only a couple of days away,” Alex said, tearing his eyes away from the proposal and looking back at Willie. His face, which usually had at least some kind of grin or smile, was oddly neutral. Gathering all of his courage, Alex asked him the question that had been burning in his mind since the Yule Ball was announced. “Are you going to ask anyone?”

Surprise crossed Willie’s face for a moment before his expression went back to neutral. He shook his head, his long brown hair swinging around his face. “Nah. It’s gonna be lame. I’m not going to go,” he remarked. He fiddled with his pukka shell necklace absent-mindedly. 

Alex felt his heart drop in his chest. He was becoming increasingly aware that he was terrible at reading Willie. He thought, maybe, they had a good time dancing with each other at the mandatory dance class. Maybe even a good enough time for Willie to consider going with him to the Yule Ball. But apparently not. “Oh. Okay,” the Hufflepuff said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

He was sure he failed at that because Willie gave him a weird look. “Are you going to go?” The Slytherin asked.

“Yeah. I’m actually kind of, well, really excited.” Alex sighed. Thoughts of the perfect Yule Ball night danced through his mind. He could see it now; beautiful winter decorations, some cool dress robes, a certain Quidditch player in his arm. He sighed dreamily. “Getting dressed up, all the decorations, dancing the night away, romance in the air…” he vocalized his daydream, gazing into the distance.

When Willie didn’t respond, he was quickly snapped out of it. Willie was looking at him intently. Panic immediately seeped into Alex’s veins. “Sorry. It’s stupid, I know-” Alex stammered before he was cut off.

“No, it’s not stupid,” Willie assured him, placing his hand on top of Alex’s. The Hufflepuff’s eyes widened in surprise. “Honestly, the truth is… I wish I could go.”

“Really?” Alex breathed, his eyes glued to his and Willie’s hands.

“Yeah.” Alex looked up at the tone in Willie’s voice. There was a faint flush on his cheeks. “There’s someone I kinda really want to ask.”

The confession sent Alex’s heart stuttering in his chest. He locked eyes with Willie. “There is?” he repeated, unable to form enough coherent thought to say anything else.

“Yes,” Willie affirmed. “But I have a… prior engagement.” His eyes cast downward, breaking from Alex’s gaze.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. It sucks.” The Slytherin removed his hand suddenly from Alex’s as if realizing it was there for too long. His chill persona snapped back into place. “Tell me how it goes, okay?”

Alex nodded, “Sure.”

The Slytherin looked back down at his homework, resuming where he had left off before they were interrupted. But Alex could only focus on one thing, one train of thought running through his head: _Everything in Hogwarts is on hold for the Yule Ball. No club meetings. No Hogsmeade’s visits. No responsibilities. What could Willie be doing on the night of the Yule Ball?_

* * *

Reggie was seriously starting to get on Luke’s nerves. He had been repeating the same two words all afternoon. Again. And again. And again. Even now, he was following him through the hallway. “Ask her,” Reggie insisted, trailing after him.

“No.”

“Ask her.”

“No.”

“Ask her ask her ask her ask her-”

Luke wheeled around on his best friend, stopping his trek through the hallway. Reggie almost ran into him. The Quidditch captain grabbed his shoulders, shaking his best friend in frustration. “How many times do I have to say it, Reg? No!”

Flynn walked up behind Luke and tapped him on the shoulder. He opened his mouth to greet her, but she beat him to the punch. “Ask Julie to the Yule Ball.” Luke groaned.

“See?” Reggie grinned, “Even Flynn agrees!”

“I’m not going to ask Julie to the Yule Ball,” Luke said firmly, “no matter how much I want to.”

Flynn’s eyes lit up. “So you DO want to?” she needled, coming around Luke to stand next to Reggie.

Looking around to make sure no one was overhearing, Luke dragged them over to an alcove in the hallway. “Of course I want to!” he whispered passionately. “But I can’t, okay? She likes Nick and he likes her and…” he trailed off, shaking his head. “Even if she didn’t, I can’t risk our friendship like that.”

Alex, who had been walking down the hallway when he saw Luke pull Reggie and Flynn aside, approached them. “What are we bothering Luke about now?” he asked, coming to stand in between Reggie and Flynn.

“Asking Julie to the Yule Ball,” Flynn answered. “He refuses.”

“I see,” Alex said. He didn’t say anything else.

Luke was surprised that Alex wasn’t being pushy about this. “You’re not going to tell me to ask her?”

The blonde shook his head. “As much as I’m aboard the Juke train-”

Luke startled. “The _what now-”_

“I understand why he wouldn’t,” Alex finished. “What if it’s awkward? What if they both have a terrible time? What if-”

The anxiety radiating off of the other boy was palpable. Reggie held up his hand. “Alright, Alex, stop. You’re making me anxious.” Luke nodded in agreement. Reggie thought for a moment before his face lit up. “We could all ask her. As a group thing!” Reggie exclaimed, gesturing to all of them.

Flynn twirled a piece of her hair in her fingers. “Actually, I have a date,” she revealed.

The boys looked at her for a moment, then broke into cheers. Reggie let out a low whistle, giving her a fist bump. “Nice!” Luke gave her a high-five.

“Way to go Flynn!” Alex exclaimed, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Who asked you?”

“Eva.”

Alex grinned. “You must be one good dancer.”

The Ravenclaw flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Oh, you know I am. You are not, by the way.” Alex pouted at her remark. “Eva told me you dance like a wet noodle.”

“I’m not that bad,” he mumbled.

“Well, in that case, the three of us and Julie can go together," Reggie said interrupting Alex's pity party. "That way Luke can go with her but without all of the pressure of it being a date.”

“Yeah! That’s a great idea!” Luke enthused. He got the best of both worlds; he got to go with Julie while still keeping their friendship intact.

Flynn spotted Eva walking down the hallway. Her face lit up. “There’s Eva now. Gotta go! See you guys later.” She waved goodbye as she weaved through the steady flow of students walking to classes, catching up with her Yule Ball date, and walking down the hallway.

As Flynn walked away, a sudden thought popped into Luke's head; he knew that Reggie didn’t have anyone he particularly wanted to go with to the Yule Ball, but Alex did. He turned to the blonde. “Wait, is that okay with you Alex? Going as a group?”

Alex looked surprised for a moment but nodded. “Yeah, of course.” He looked down. “No one’s going to ask me, anyway.”

“What about Willie?” Luke asked gently.

“He’s not going.”

Reggie frowned, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry dude.”

“It’s fine,” Alex said quietly, even though he did not seem fine. Luke felt bad for him; no wonder Alex was acting a little more on-edge than usual. 

The Quidditch captain nudged his friend’s shoulder with his own. “Well if you’re really desperate, Charlie’s madly in love with you,” Luke said, wiggling his eyebrows. Reggie broke out into laughter. Alex gave him an exasperated look.

“Haha,” Alex deadpanned, “very funny.”

“Oh c’mon, it’s cute,” Reggie insisted. “You can’t tell me that you never had a crush on an upperclassman when you were younger.”

Luke raised his hand. “I did. Heather Greenwood,” he reminisced, remembering his old Quidditch captain from years ago. She had been his seventh-year Quidditch captain as a fresh second-year keeper.

“Oh, we remember,” Alex assured. He and Reggie shared a look. “You wouldn’t stop mooning over her for two years, even after she graduated.” 

Luke rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “It was more hero worship than anything else, in my defense. She was the best chaser I’d ever seen,” he recalled wistfully.

“So… Yule ball? Group thing?” Reggie asked his friends hopefully, throwing an arm around each of their shoulders.

“Yeah,” Alex agreed. “Us and Julie.” Luke grinned at both of them. As much as Alex was disappointed about Willie, going with his best friends would still be a blast. “It’ll be really fun. I’ve got two great looking dates and one ugly mug. My odds are pretty good," Alex stated.

Reggie pointed at Luke, grinning. “Haha, he called you the ugly mug.” Alex and Luke shared a look. Reggie’s grin faded. “You were talking about Luke, right?” Alex didn’t answer, just turned away and started walking down the hallway. “RIGHT? ALEX!” Reggie yelled, chasing after him.

Luke chuckled as he watched Reggie run after Alex, who was trying to lose him in the crowd of students. 

* * *

Later that night, Julie and the boys were having another stress-relief songwriting session in the Room of Requirement. The song they were working on, which they had recently titled “Edge of Great”, was coming along nicely. As they sang through the song, Julie could feel her stress melting away. Before she knew it, they had nearly finished the full song, approaching the last line. All of the instruments stopped playing, and all that remained was Luke and Julie’s singing. Their voices mixed in the air, beautifully complimentary. “ _Running from the past, tripping on the now_ ,” they sang, “ _What’s lost can be found, it’s obvious._ ”

Reggie let out a whoop. “That sounded great! Julie, you’re a total rockstar.”

“Thanks.” Julie smiled softly. “Honestly, playing with you guys is such a stress reliever. The only other time I was able to jam out like that was with my mom.” She was surprised to find that she wasn’t sad when talking about her mom, only fond and reminiscent. Another thought popped into her head. “Luke, that new guitar solo you added sounds killer.”

He flicked his hair out of his face, grinning. “It’s not easy being this awesome, but I make it work.” He said, spinning his guitar over his shoulder and catching it when it came back around. Suddenly, his expression changed. The cocky grin left his face and he took a step closer to her. “So Julie…”

“Yes?”

He took another step closer to her. “I was wondering if…”

“If?” Her heart was beating a mile a minute in her chest. _Is he really going to-_

“You would like to go to the Yule ball with us?” He asked hopefully.

Excitement coursed through her veins before she processed his full sentence. _Wait_ , she realized, _He didn’t say me. He said us._ “Us?” she asked.

“Yeah, all of us. As a group.”

Her excitement came crashing down, but she made sure not to show it on her face. “Oh. Sure, guys. That sounds like fun!” She wasn’t lying; going to the Yule Ball with her three favorite guys seemed like a blast. But now, she couldn’t help but wish that Luke asked her as a date. _Snap out of it, Julie._

“Cool,” Alex grinned, hitting a celebratory cymbal crash on the drums.

“You have to make sure your outfit is killer, you know,” Reggie stated in a faux-snooty. “We can’t be seen with just anyone at the function of the year.”

Alex scoffed. “Oh really, Reggie? Wasn’t it you who wore his sweater backward for the entirety of third year?”

The bassist’s cheeks colored. “Shut up!”

And just like that, it was official; Julie had three dates for the Yule Ball. 

After wrapping up their song, they called it a night and headed to their respective common rooms. Julie hummed their new song quietly under her breath on her way back to the Ravenclaw dormitories.

To her surprise, Nick was standing right outside of the Ravenclaw tower entrance, leaning against the wall. When he caught sight of her, his face lit up. “Julie!” He exclaimed, waving, and walked over to her.

“Hey, dance partner.” She greeted. “What’s up?”

The Gryffindor looked uncharacteristically nervous. “Oh, nothing really. I just have a question for you.” He was fiddling with his scarlet tie, his fingers messing with the knot around his neck.

Julie nodded, signaling for him to continue. He took a deep breath, looking up at her through his thick blonde strands of hair.

“Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?”

She froze. _Error. Does not compute_. Was Nick, the guy she had been crushing on for forever, really asking her to the Yule Ball? She should have been excited, but all she felt was dread. And that’s when it hit her; she absolutely, 100 percent did not have feelings for Nick anymore. _Great timing, Julie._

She opened and closed her mouth, trying to find the right words to say. “Oh. I- uh-”

His expression fell slightly. “That doesn’t seem like a yes.”

“I’m so sorry, Nick,” Julie apologized. “But I just agreed to go with the guys as a group thing and I don’t want to bail on them like that.”

“Dang. Bad timing, huh?” He asked. He didn’t seem too broken up about it, but she could still see the disappointment in his eyes.

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“No worries. Think you could save one dance for your original dance partner?” he asked hopefully.

She laughed and nodded. “I think that could be managed.”

“Cool.” He took a few steps back, giving her a wave. “See you on the dance floor, Molina.” With that, he turned around and walked the other direction, back towards Gryffindor Tower. 

Julie stood in shock for a moment before she was able to move. After she had convinced herself that, no, she wasn't having a fever dream, she tried to fully process what had just happened. 

* * *

“Nick did WHAT?” Flynn screeched, “And you SAID NO?”

Julie clapped a hand over her best friend’s mouth, looking around to see if anyone had heard her. Luckily, the other students who had come to Hogsmeade the weekend before the Yule Ball were all too engrossed in their own tasks. “Will you keep it down! I don’t think all of Hogsmeade wants to hear about my romantic failures.”

Flynn gaped at her. “You really don’t like him anymore at all, huh?”

“No,” Julie admitted. “Luke’s ruined me for everyone else.” And it was kind of scary exactly how true that statement was.

Her best friend gave her a sympathetic look. “You have it bad.” Together, they walked into a fancier dress shop, trying to find a last-minute outfit to wear to the Yule Ball. The bell clinked as they walked through the threshold. “Well, at least you still get to go with him. Kind of.”

Julie made a face as she sifted through the racks, nothing catching her attention. “I’m just hoping that Reggie doesn’t try to rope us into a four-way slow dance,” Julie said. “That could get ugly.” Flynn laughed, knowing that is exactly the kind of thing he would do.

Every dress she looked at had something wrong with it. Too long. Too short. Too orange. Too plain. Too gaudy. Julie sighed and moved to a different rack, hoping that would change her luck.

Flynn let out a gasp from the other side of the store. She grabbed something off the rack, holding it behind her back and walking over to Julie.

“Even if you can’t go to the Yule Ball with Luke as a _date_ date, you can still knock him off his feet when he sees you,” she said slyly, revealing the dress she had hidden behind her back. She held it in front of Julie.

The moment she saw it, she knew. _This was it. This was the dress_.

“Flynn… it’s perfect,” she breathed, running her fingers over the beading gently.

Flynn handed her the dress. “He won’t even know what hit him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all are not even READY for the next chapter, which will be HELLA LONG. 
> 
> Up Next: The Yule Ball has arrived. Also, what the heck is Willie up to?


	9. Promenade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this... chapter... nearly killed me... so long... im exhausted
> 
> good luck guys. you're gonna need it to get through this one. see ya at the end.
> 
> fun fact i actually drew carrie, flynn, and julie's yule ball outfits but im not sure if im gonna ever share that bc i am NOT an artist lmao

Julie almost couldn’t recognize her own reflection in the mirror. The girl in the mirror looked confident, bold, and beautiful. Her hair was done in ringlets, pulled half back on the left side so the curls didn’t fall into her face. Her makeup was simple but beautiful, highlighting the natural beauty underneath. But the thing that really made her feel beautiful was the dress.

The dress was stunning, a rich deep purple color with intricate beading. The front skimmed the tops of her knees; the back was all the way down to the floor. All different shades of silver and purple were woven into the beading, which started at her shoulders and stopped a few inches above the hemline. The sleeves of her dress were sheer with a beading overlay, creating the illusion that the swirls of beading were resting on her skin.

In short, she had never felt so… _magical_.

 _Knock knock knock_. Flynn rapped her knuckles on the bathroom door. “Come out already, Julie!” she called, her voice a little muffled. “You’ve been in there for an hour and a half.”

“Okay, okay!” she called back. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. She held her arms out, turning in a slow circle for Flynn to see. “How do I look?”

“Amazing!” Flynn squealed, looking at her best friend in awe. “Just one more touch…” She pulled out her wand and waved in a circular motion, muttering a quick spell under her breath. A few strands of Julie’s hair that were pinned up turned purple, sparkling softly in the light. “There. Perfection,” Flynn declared.

Julie ran back to the bathroom to check her hair in the mirror. It was beautiful, the perfect finishing touch to her outfit. “You’re an artist,” Julie said in awe. After taking one last glance, she walked back out of the bathroom.

“Luke’s going to spontaneously combust when he sees you.”

“Shut up. You look amazing too, as always,” Julie said, gesturing to Flynn’s green gown. It was striking, shimmering softly in the light. The cape sleeves were every bit as dramatic as Flynn. A couple of her braids were pinned back with an emerald clip, making sure her hair wouldn’t get in her face. “Are you excited for your date?” Julie asked teasingly.

“You know I am,” Flynn affirmed, smoothing down the fabric of her skirt. “I’m nervous, though. What if I make a fool out of myself in front of Eva? She’s so cool, Julie. She wears winged eyeliner. _Winged eyeliner_!” She repeated, swooning.

Julie put her hands on her best friend’s shoulders. “Just relax and be yourself. You got this. She’s going to love you.” Her best friend smiled, reassured by her words.

“You’re the best friend I could ever hope for.”

“Back at you,” Julie winked.

* * *

The atmosphere in the Hufflepuff common room was jovial, to say the least. All around Alex, people were chatting and bustling with excitement, getting last-minute things ready for the Yule Ball. Even though the Yule Ball wasn’t due to start for another hour and a half, Hufflepuff was already in full party mode.

Luke and Reggie walked down from the dormitories, fixing their dress robes. Reggie was dressed in a red waistcoat and matching pants, black butterflies stenciled onto the fabric. Luke’s dark blue suit contrasted his in a complimentary way. His dress robes were a little longer than Reggie’s.

“Looking sharp, boys,” Luke whistled, greeting Alex with a quick fist bump.

Alex looked down at his light pink dress robes self-consciously. “I don’t know. Are you sure this isn’t too… much?” He asked, messing with his collar.

“You look great, Alex,” Luke reassured, batting his hands away from his collar. The brunette straightened his bow tie for him. “Stop stressing. Those new dress robes look way better than the stuffy black ones your parents sent.”

“The frills were not it, bro,” Reggie agreed.

A shudder went through the blonde at the memory of the ugly dress robes. When his parents had caught wind that there was a Yule Ball, they sent him dress robes that looked like they were straight out of the 1800s.

Luke broke Alex out of his thoughts. “Let’s go see Julie!” he exclaimed suddenly, turning to leave the common room.

“Someone’s eager,” Reggie said, wiggling his eyebrows. Alex chuckled.  
  
The Hufflepuff Quidditch captain turned a light pink. “Shut up.”

Walking side by side, they left the Hufflepuff common room and headed towards Ravenclaw tower. As they rounded the corner, though, they ran right into someone who was walking in a hurry.

As the boys stumbled back, Alex caught sight of who they had run into.

“Willie,” Alex breathed, looking him up and down. Wille looked… great. He was wearing an interesting version of dress robes; he was sporting a suit jacket, but his pants were cropped into shorts. His puka shell necklace still around his neck, contrasting with his fancier apparel. Overall, it was very… Willie.

The Slytherin looked at them in surprise, obviously not expecting to see them. “Luke, Reggie… Alex!” He exclaimed. When his eyes rested on Alex, he did a double-take. “You look… good,” he said, looking the blonde up and down. “Really good.”

“Thanks. You look good too.” Alex could feel his cheeks coloring, ignoring the smug looks from his best friends. Then, something dawned on him. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Willie in confusion. “But… why are you dressed so nice? I thought you weren’t going to the Yule Ball.”

Willie shook his head. “I’m not. This is actually my work uniform.”

“Where do you work?” Reggie asked.

“An underground music club in Hogsmeade,” Willie answered. “It’s run by a…” he hesitated, trying to find the right word. “Family friend.”

Luke’s eyes lit up at the mention of a secret underground music club. “That’s so cool, Willie!” He said enthusiastically.

“Yeah, I didn’t know you were into music!” Reggie exclaimed.

“I mean I work there mostly because my parents make me, but it’s still pretty cool. It’s only open one day a month,” Willie said. He looked at the three boys, hesitated, then spoke again. “Do you guys… want to come and check it out really quick?” he asked hesitantly like he thought they were going to say no. “It’s pretty exclusive but I think I could get you in.”

The three boys looked between each other excitedly. A secret music club in Hogsmeade sounded like the coolest thing ever. “Really?” Reggie asked in awe. Willie nodded.

Luke nodded and grinned. “Yeah! We’re so in!”

Alex interrupted, always the voice of reason. “But Hogsmeade is closed…”

“Not when you have secret passageways.” Willie winked at him. Alex’s brain stopped working. Usually, he was not a rule breaker. But Willie…. Willie made him want to break every rule just to see his smile.

Reggie gave Willie a fist bump. “I like your style, Willie.”

“We only have an hour-ish before the Yule Ball starts…” Luke said, looking at the clock.

Willie nodded. “We can just swing by. I’ll show you around and you’ll be back with plenty of time to spare.”

“Sounds great!” Luke exclaimed.

“Sweet. Right this way,” Willie said, gesturing for them to follow him. They took a left down a hallway that Alex had never even noticed before.

At the very end of the hallway, there was a statue of a one-eyed witch. Willie walked up to the statue and pulled out his wand. He muttered something, then tapped the top of the statue. It slid aside to reveal a small passageway, large enough for one person to fit through at a time.

The boys gaped as the secret passageway was revealed. “Sweet!” Luke exclaimed, heading into the passageway with no hesitation. Reggie followed right behind him.

Alex hesitated for a moment. Willie looked back at him from the entrance of the passageway. “You coming?”

“Yeah,” Alex answered, putting aside his hesitation and stepping into the passageway behind Willie.

* * *

The entrance to the Great Hall was decked out in white, silvery decorations. Small twinkle lights adorned the high ceilings, making it look like starlight. The doors to the Great Hall were closed, hiding the ballroom inside. The doors wouldn’t open for another hour, but many students were already milling around the outside of the entrance.

Flynn looked all around her, gasping in delight. “Woah, look at this place!”

Julie nodded, equally stunned. “Headmistress Lessa really outdid herself.”

The two girls looked around, taking in the beautiful decorations. Flynn scanned the crowd, looking for a certain Slytherin. “Oh! I see Eva.” She exclaimed, standing on her tiptoes to get a better look. Her jaw dropped. “Oh my god, she’s wearing a suit. Wow. Wow, wow, wow.” She repeated, her voice going high. “I think I’m about to pass away.”

Julie laughed and rolled her eyes at her best friend’s dramatics. “Take a deep breath, Flynn.” She said. “Go knock her dead.”

The other Ravenclaw tore her gaze from her date, looking at Julie. “Are you sure?” she asked uncertainly. She didn’t want to strand her best friend alone. “I don’t see the boys yet.”

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon, we’re super early,” Julie reassured, shooing her best friend in the direction of her date.

Flynn readjusted her dress and held her chin up confidently. “Okay, here I go. Wish me luck!”

“Good luck!” Julie called after her, watching her walk up to her Slytherin date. Eva’s eyes lit up as she caught sight of Flynn, greeting her with words that Julie was far away to hear. Flynn laughed at whatever she said, looping her arm through her date’s.

She stood alone awkwardly for a few moments, looking around the room. Just her luck, she happened to make eye contact with Carrie. As much as Julie hated to admit it, she looked good. Her floor-length pink gown was completely sequined, catching the attention of many. The Slytherin had even transfigured her hair a pastel pink color to match her dress. Her groupies all had different vibrantly colored gowns, giving all of them the look of brightly colored candy.

As soon as they made eye contact, Julie knew she was screwed. Carrie stalked over to her, her friends flanking her side. “Hi Julie,” she said, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. “Showing up alone to a dance? That’s embarrassing.”

Julie crossed her arms. “For your information, Carrie, I have three dates.”

“Three dates? Where?” She looked around, her smile smug. “Because I don’t see them.”

“They’ll be here.” Maybe if she wished hard enough, those stupid boys would appear and make Carrie eat her words. Alas, they were nowhere in sight.

Carrie scoffed. “Sure, Julie.” She laughed and turned around, murmuring to her friends, who giggled in response. Julie huffed as they strutted away.

She couldn’t wait for the moment when Carrie would have to eat her words.

* * *

The underground music club in Hogsmeade was nothing like Alex was expecting. He had thought that it would have been a shabby little place, but it was actually the opposite. It had opulent floors and ceilings, a huge stage teeming with musicians, and crystal chandeliers.

The three boys looked around in awe. Reggie watched a beautiful dancer in a feathered outfit traipse around the tables. “Woah, this place is amazing!” he exclaimed, gazing at her with heart eyes.

Luke’s attention was more focused on the musicians, who were playing a jazzy tune. “I never even knew this place existed.”

“It’s hidden with magical enchantments unless you know what to look for,” Willie stated. “Here, I’ll show you guys to your table.”

The Slytherin guided the three boys down into the seating area, which had tables scattered around a large dance floor. There was a table that was centered in front of the dance floor, with a little white card that read _reserved_.

Willie plucked the card off the table and gestured for them to sit down. “We get our own table?” Luke asked, taking a seat, “Sweet hookup! Thanks, Willie!”

“No problem.” Willie’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, but only Alex seemed to notice.

Reggie didn’t even bother sitting down. He looked over at the front of the room. “Look at the stage set up! Those amps are so rad.” He grabbed Luke’s wrist and pulled him into a standing position. Reggie, in his excitement, tugged Luke over to the amps, chattering about the sound quality.

Alex and Willie were left sitting at the table, alone. Willie still seemed a little bit off to Alex, like he was carrying a heavy weight on his shoulder. “Hey, you okay?” The Hufflepuff asked, tilting his head.

Willie’s head snapped up. “Yeah, why?”

“I don’t know, you just seem a little… off,” Alex said hesitantly.

The Slytherin hesitated for a moment. “To be honest, I don’t really like working here.” He revealed, tugging at his tie. “It’s a really cool scene with amazing music but... it’s just not my thing.”

“You said your parents got you this job?”

“Yeah. Pureblood family traditions, you know. They used to work here when they were younger. And now they expect me to do it, no questions asked.”

Alex let out a low whistle. “That sucks.” He leaned forward a bit. His shoulder grazed Willie’s. “Pureblood parents, am I right?

At that, Willie chuckled. “Nothing like some light childhood trauma.” Alex let out a quiet laugh at that as well, Willie’s easygoing expression returning.

“How’d they take it when you came out?” Alex asked, the words escaping his mouth without a second thought. “Because mine-”

“Huh?” Willie had a confused look on his face.

As soon as Alex realized what he had said, he wanted to throw himself out a window. He had read this all wrong. Willie was probably 100 percent straight. Could the ground open up and swallow him whole? It would be better than having to face the fallout of what he just said.

“Oh my god.” Alex stammered, scooting away quickly. “Oh my god, I’m so stupid, I am SO sorry-”

“I’m messing with you, hot dog,” Willie reassured, placing his hand on Alex’s. “They were surprisingly fine with it.” And just like that, Alex could breathe again. “They have plenty of better things to berate me about. You?”

“Surprisingly not fine with it,” Alex admitted quietly.

The hand that was covering his squeezed lightly. “I’m sorry.” Alex looked up, meeting Willie’s eyes.

He shrugged slightly. He was used to pretending it didn’t bother him that much. “It’s okay. The guys have my back.”

“So do I,” Willie said fiercely. It was the least chill Alex had ever seen him. “You know that, right?”

Alex smiled. “Yeah. I do.”

* * *

“Julie!” Someone exclaimed from amongst the mass of dancing students. “I finally found you.” Flynn’s beaming face appeared out of the crowd.

Julie had been mulling around the outskirts of the dance floor for the last couple of minutes, looking for the boys. She hadn’t had any luck, but the ball had only been going on for fifteen minutes. Currently, she was sitting at one of the tables that was draped in silver and white.

Flynn plopped into the seat next to her, beaming from ear to ear. “I’m already so out of breath. Eva is amazing.” She sighed, looking over at Eva on the dance floor. She was doing some kind of twirly dance move next to her other Slytherin friends. A thought crossed Flynn’s mind, and she frowned. “Wait, where are the boys?

“I don’t know,” Julie answered, slumping back in her chair. “I looked for them everywhere but couldn’t find them.”

“That’s weird. I mean, the night is still young. They could just be late?”

“I guess. I don’t know,” Julie said hesitantly. “I just have a bad feeling.”

It was true; ever since they opened the doors to the Yule Ball, a chill had settled into her skin. She shivered but tried to ignore it.

“You think they’re in trouble? Is it Covington?” Flynn asked worriedly.

“I don’t know.” Julie’s eyebrows furrowed. She just couldn’t make sense of all of this. “I don’t think they would just stand me up-”

Just then, Eva approached their table. “Hi, Julie!” She greeted, slipping into the seat next to Flynn.

Julie tried to wipe the worry off her face. “Hey, Eva. You look great. Rocking the suit.” She complimented.

Eva winked. “Thanks, Julie! Back at you.” She turned to her date, wrapping an arm around Flynn’s waist. “Although, I think that Flynn’s really stealing the show tonight.” Flynn bit her lip.

“I think if you compliment Flynn any more, she will spontaneously combust,” Julie joked.

“I can’t help it,” Eva said. “It’s just too easy.”

Julie scanned the ballroom one more time. “Have you seen Alex, Luke, or Reggie?”

Eva also looked around for them. “Not recently. I saw them, like, a couple hours ago talking to Willie about something,” she answered.

“Thanks.”

The band played a different tune, upbeat and jazzy. Eva’s eyes widened in excitement. “I love this song!” she exclaimed, turning to Flynn and holding out a hand. “You want to dance some more?”

Flynn looked back to Julie hesitantly. “I-”

“Go. Have fun.” Julie cut her off, pushing her out of her seat. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“If you’re sure…”

“Absolutely.” Julie waved goodbye as Eva guided Flynn back into the crowd of dancing students.

Panic was starting to overtake Julie as more and more minutes passed with no sign of the boys. _Where could they possibly be?_

* * *

The music echoing around the music club was upbeat and lively. The dance floor was packed with wizards and witches, all dressed to impress. The atmosphere matched the music; everyone was jovial and dancing to their hearts content.

A man in an extravagant deep purple suit was crooning into his microphone on the stage. He seemed to have the whole club captivated with his voice alone. 

Alex, Luke, and Reggie were all bobbing their heads to the music at their table. Willie had gone to do something work-related but promised he would be back. Reggie’s jaw dropped as another girl in a feathered outfit strutted past him, sending a wink his way. “This is amazing,” he said, his eyes never leaving the girl.

“Yeah, the band is absolutely killing it!” Luke was tapping along to the beat, getting into the groove of the song.

“And the guy who’s singing? He’s so cool,” Alex chimed in.

“Yeah his voice is, like, enchanting,” Reggie said, his eyes half-lidded. “Kinda makes me feel sleepy. In a good way.”

“Me too,” Alex agreed. His mouth felt strangely fuzzy.

The song ended with a big finish, causing the audience to burst into enthusiastic applause. The boys clapped as the singer took a deep bow.

Suddenly, Luke frowned. “Hey, wasn’t there someplace we were supposed to be?”

Luke’s voice kind of sounded like he was underwater to Alex. He shook his head, hoping that would clear his mind. It didn’t help. “Yeah, I think… maybe. But I can’t remember.”

Reggie furrowed his brow. “I think it was… something important.”

Their conversation was cut short by someone approaching their table. Alex recognized the deep purple suit immediately. It was the singer; Willie was by his side, his anxious look having returned.

“Hello, boys,” the singer greeted, his voice like melted butter. “My friend William here tells me that you three are fellow music lovers.” He pulled out his wand and conjured a chair, taking a seat at their table. Willie stood awkwardly for a moment, as if he didn’t know if he was allowed to sit, before taking a seat at Alex’s side.

“It’s the singer man!” Reggie exclaimed dopily. “You’re really good.”

Luke hit the other boy with his elbow lightly. He glanced back at the man, hoping he wasn’t weirded out by Reggie. “Sorry about Reggie,” Luke apologized, “he’s a little star-struck.”

The man waved him off, telling him nonverbally that it was no big deal. He put his hand over his heart. “Where are my manners? Let me introduce myself.” The man gave them a crooked grin. “My name is Caleb, and I own this little club. You guys are…?”

Alex gestured to Luke. “This is Luke,” then to Reggie, “Reggie,” and then to himself, “and I’m Alex.”

“Charmed.” Caleb leaned closer, and Alex could’ve sworn his gaze turned almost predatory. “You boys go to Hogwarts?”

“Yeah,” Luke answered. “Actually, we’re all musicians as well. I play guitar, Reggie shreds on bass, and Alex is killer on drums.”

“Really? That’s great to hear. Maybe you can play the mainstage with me, sometime. If you think you can keep up.”

Luke nodded his head vigorously. “Absolutely!”

“That would be awesome,” Reggie said, wistfully looking at the stage.

“Pardon me, I have to get ready for the next set.” Caleb stood and held out his hands. “The night is young, boys. Grab a partner and head to the dance floor.” With a swish of his cape, he disappeared almost into thin air. The band started up again, playing a prelude to his next song.

Everyone was having a great time. The music was amazing, the atmosphere jovial, and the company lively. Yet, for some reason he couldn’t fully explain, Alex was uneasy.

* * *

_At least this fruit punch will never let me down_ , Julie thought as she took a sip from her cup that she had just filled at the punch station. _Fruit_ _punch is reliable. Unlike teenaged boys, apparently._

She had reserved herself to believe that one of three things had happened:

One, the boys had done something so spectacularly stupid that they landed themselves in all-night detention.

Two, they had decided they didn’t want to be her friend anymore and had completely ditched her on purpose.

And, three, her deepest nightmare. Covington had come for the boys, and something terrible had happened.  
  
She couldn’t let herself think like that. They had to be okay. If something happened to them and she was here, at the Yule Ball… she would never forgive herself. 

“Julie.”

Pushing those thoughts out of her head, she turned around to see Nick standing there, wearing black dress robes. His hair was out of his eyes for once. He looked really good. She wished she cared more.

“Hey, Nick.” Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

The Gryffindor looked around, assumedly for the three boys that were supposed to be her dates. “Why are you all by yourself?” He asked confusedly.

Julie looked at the ground. “Got stood up.”

Disbelief flooded his features. “By all three of them?”

“Yep.”

He took a step closer, a frown on his face. “I’m sorry.”

Julie shrugged. “It’s fine, I guess.”

“How about a dance, to cheer you up?” He asked, holding out a hand. “You did promise me one, after all.”

She smiled softly and took his hand. “Sure. I’d like that.” He wrapped his fingers around hers gently, pulling her onto the dance floor.

Hopefully, she could keep Luke out of her head this time.

* * *

Alex watched his friends be paraded around the dance floor by the dancers in the glittery, feathery outfits. The girl holding Reggie in her arms gave him a grin and dipped him _._ Even from all the way across the room, Alex could see his blush. Luke seemed to be having a competitive dance-off with his partner. He was obviously losing.

“Alex.” A voice from behind him startled him. It was Caleb, his eyes glittering in the dim light. “You’re the only one not dancing!” He took Alex by the shoulders and pulled him to a standing position, turning him around. “Why don’t you dance with Michelle over there?” He pointed to a girl on the other side of the room.

Alex blanched “Oh, um,” he stuttered, looking around the room for a way out. “I- I’m looking for Willie, actually.” The excuse sounded lame, even to him.

Caleb, however, seemed to understand perfectly. He grinned a megawatt smile. “I see.” He turned him the other direction, gesturing to someone else. A tall, handsome man emerged from the crowd. “Here, this is Dante. He’ll take good care of you,” he winked.

“I don’t think-” Alex started to make an excuse but was cut off by Dante pulling him into his arms and onto the dance floor. “WOAH!”

For the next ten minutes, Alex was thrown around the dance floor like a ragdoll. He tried his best to keep up, but no matter what he did he couldn’t sync up with Dante. Alex was huffing and puffing, sweating through his dress robes.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. “Can I cut in?” Willie asked him. Alex nearly cried tears of joy.

“Yeah. I would like that,” Alex panted. He felt relief wash over his body as Dante walked away in a huff, obviously upset that Willie had interrupted them.

Willie wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him close. At that moment, the music turned into something slow and smoky. “You are a lifesaver. I think I was about to pass out.” Alex huffed, resting his head on Willie’s shoulder in exhaustion.

They rocked side to side slowly. Willie chuckled, his breath fanning against Alex’s neck. “I thought he was going to tear your arms off on that last four count.” The Hufflepuff laughed quietly. “I came to rescue you.”

Alex lifted his head off of Willie’s shoulder. “My hero,” he joked.

A slight flush appeared on the Slytherin’s cheeks. Continuing their slow dance, Willie spun Alex out of his arms gently. They were at arm’s length for only a moment before Willie pulled the other boy back into him, spinning him into a close embrace. Then, Willie dipped him. 

Looking up at him mid-dip, Alex smiled softly. “I’m getting a sense of déjà vu,” he said, referencing their practice dance session in the Great Hall only a week earlier.

“What about this?” Willie pulled him up out of the dip, extending his arm so that they were once again an arm’s length apart. Their hands were the only place they were connected, hanging in between them.

He spun Alex around, removing his hand from his grip and moving it to the small of his back. Then, he pulled him in towards his body suddenly. The blonde’s hands went around the other boy’s neck instinctively. Willie grabbed Alex’s knee, pulling him into a tango lunge.

Their faces were an inch apart. Alex’s eyes widened. If his heart was beating any faster, Willie was going to be able to hear it thumping in his chest. “Okay, okay. I’m impressed,” Alex admitted. Willie pulled him up out of the lunge, and they continued their regular slow dancing. “Are you this smooth with all of the people you dance with?” Alex joked shakily, trying to relieve some of the tension in the air.

Willie shook his head. “Just you.”

Alex’s gaze was caught by something familiar around Willie’s neck. “I like that you kept your pukka shell necklace,” he admitted. He curled a finger through it, gently brushing Willie’s skin. It was warm to the touch. “Even all dressed up, you’ve still got that Willie flair.”

And, after he said that, he could have sworn that Willie’s gaze dropped down to his lips for a moment. Every point of contact between them seemed electric: Willie’s hand on his waist, his other hand clasped in his, their knees knocking every couple of seconds.

Willie opened his mouth to say something, but he was drowned out by a loud chime of a clock.

Caleb, up at the front of the stage, made spirit fingers with his hands. “Witches and wizards… haunting hour is upon us!” The crowd let out a loud _oooooh_ , in anticipation of what was next. With a flick of his hand, the band started up again, performing a reprise of an earlier up-tempo song.

The chiming of the bell seemed to break through some of the fog that had been in Alex’s head for most of the night. “Wait… haunting hour… isn’t that midnight?” Alex said confusedly. _What time was it again?_ Something was wrong. _Why can’t I think straight?_

He heard his name being shouted from across the dance floor. “ALEX!” Luke came tumbling into view, a panicked expression on his face. He was tugging a pouting Reggie along with him. “The Yule Ball! We have to go. NOW!” He shouted in distress, grabbing Alex’s hand and yanking him towards the exit.

The Yule Ball. Of course. That’s where they were supposed to be. _How did I forget that? And how four hours pass by without me noticing?_

“Sorry Willie!” Alex called out, allowing himself to be dragged to the exit.

Reggie was still pouting, but his eyes were foggy. He didn’t seem to be as with it as Alex or Luke. “C’mon, Luke, I was just about to make a move on that girl,” Reggie complained. Luke completely ignored him and continued his beeline to the door.

They were nearly to the door. Then, out of thin air, Caleb blocked their path.

“Gentlemen, leaving so soon?” he asked, a frown on his face.

“We have to,” Luke said hurriedly, “We’re late for this… thing we have.”

“Ah. I see.” Caleb’s expression was unreadable. “Well, it was nice to meet you. Let me give you a parting token…”

In a lightning-quick move, he clasped Luke’s forearm with his own. He did the same to Reggie, then Alex. When Caleb’s skin made contact with his, he felt a sharp tiny sting. Like multiple bees were stinging in the same spot.

The three boys held out their forearms, inspecting the small purple stamp that had just appeared on their inner wrists.

“What are these stamps for?” Reggie asked.

“It’s just so that you can visit the club again if you so choose.”

“Cool. Thanks! Gotta go, bye!” Luke rushed out the door, still dragging Reggie.

Alex stayed behind for a moment, looking for Willie into the crowd to at least wave goodbye. He was nowhere to be found.

He turned to Caleb and bowed his head shyly. “If you see Willie… tell him I said goodbye, okay?”

After Caleb nodded in agreement, Alex hurried out the door to follow his friends.

* * *

It took all of Caleb’s willpower not to reveal his true nature until the boys had left. The moment the door closed behind Alex, a sinister smirk graced Caleb’s features. Victory was so, so sweet. And it was even sweeter when they were none the wiser.

Willie stuck his head out from around the corner, having watched them leave from a distance. He shook his head in confusion. “Wait… did that just… work?”

“It worked.” Caleb declared. “The mark stuck when they left.

The younger man’s face drained of all color. “It’s… it’s never worked before. Not ever.” He whispered. He looked like he was about to throw up.

Caleb had no time for his naive blubbering. “Now, it has,” he snapped. “The prophecy is upon us. I will be whole again.”

Just the thought of returning to his full power was enough to fill him with glee. No more being stuck in this club, siphoning energy off of the witches and wizards who stumbled in. Soon, he would be able to go wherever he wanted, doing any kind of magic he wanted. Including continuing his mission.

Willie was still in disbelief. “They’re the three from the prophecy? You’re sure?”

“The mark wouldn’t have worked if they weren’t.” Caleb asserted. “Now they are all mine.” The older man put a hand on Willie’s shoulder, squeezing tightly. “Phenomenal work, Willie. You let them right to me.” At this, Willie let out a shudder. Caleb’s smirk widened. “Your parents will be pleased to hear you have served me so well.”

Willie stayed quiet, his mouth drawn in a tight line. Caleb wasn’t blind; he had seen the brunette dancing with that tall blonde boy. _Alex_ , his memory provided. _Yes, yes._ He was probably sad that he wouldn’t have his boy toy to play with much longer.

No bother; as soon as he had his powers back, he could get rid of the weakling. But for now, he just had to bide his time.

* * *

It was official; it was one of the worst nights of Julie’s life. 

The ball was pretty much over and there was still no sign of the boys. Eva and Flynn were the last couple still standing, sharing their final slow dance. Carrie was walking towards the exit, her groupies following her out.

Not only had she been stood up by three boys she thought were her best friends, but Carrie had also been ragging on her all night to anyone who could hear. In fact, she could hear her across the room now.

“And then she told me she had three dates! Three! I’m assuming she meant Alex, Luke, and Reggie. But they are nowhere to be found,” she laughed meanly, throwing her head back. “Isn’t that hilarious? As IF they would go to the dance with her. She probably just said that to get attention.” Irritation welled in Julie’s chest. “She looks so pathetic sitting in the corner by herself all night.”

As Carrie walked out into the hallway, Julie couldn’t hear her voice anymore. Thank goodness for small miracles.

After the last dance had ended, Flynn murmured something to Eva. The Slytherin girl nodded and made her way towards the exit. Flynn walked over to where Julie was standing. “I’m sorry they didn’t show, Julie,” Flynn faltered, at a loss for what to say for once.

“I just feel so embarrassed. I looked like an idiot all night, sitting by myself.”

“That’s what you get for depending on boys.” 

Eva peeked her head in from the exit. “Flynn! You coming?” She called, her voice echoing slightly through the mostly empty room. Her suit jacket was off and the top few buttons of her shirt were undone.

Julie knew Flynn better than anyone, and she knew that she was about to turn down a romantic stroll with Eva to comfort her. Before she could get the chance, Julie spoke. “Go get her, tiger.”

Flynn shook her head. “Julie, I can’t leave you.”

“I’m leaving soon, anyway. Go. Take a long lap around the castle. And if you don’t kiss her by the time you get back to the dormitory, I’m locking you out of the room.” Julie’s eyes twinkled with a bit of mirth.

“You’re the best,” Flynn called out, blowing her a kiss and then turning to the door. She caught up with Eva, who took her hand, and then they were out of sight.

Julie stood in the middle of the dance floor for a few moments. Without the other students or the lively music, the decorations seemed somber. A little eerie, even.

Just as she was about to turn to leave and put this night behind her, a commotion broke through the entrance.

The three boys came stumbling into the room, their clothes disheveled and in disarray. They looked like they had just run a marathon.

“Julie!” Luke shouted when he caught sight of her from across the room, running right up to her. “Julie we’re-” His voice got stuck in his throat as he got a good look at her. His jaw dropped. “Woah. Julie. You look- I- wow,” he choked, unable to draw his eyes away.

“We’re here!” Reggie panted, resting his hands on his knees. He took a deep breath, then looked around. “Where is everyone?”

“The Yule Ball is over,” Julie clipped. She tried to not let her anger show too much. “It’s half past midnight. Where were you guys?” Worry bled into her tone.

Luke started to answer. “We were…” He trailed off, unsure how to finish.

“That is to say…” Alex tried to help, but failed. 

“Uhh…” Reggie mumbled.

So that confirmed it, then. They stood her up for no reason. Anger welled up inside her, and this time she could not conceal it.

“Just, forget it. I’m out of here,” she fumed, heading for the door.

Luke scrambled and ran in front of her, blocking her path. He held his arms out. “Julie, wait. It’s not our fault. We went to this music club and it was some kind of time warp and-”

And now they were just making stuff up. That made her even more angry. “Save the excuses, Luke. If you didn’t want to go with me, you could have just said so.”

He was completely taken aback. “That’s not it, I promise-

“You’re not the only one that asked me, you know. Nick did.” She revealed. “But I turned him down because I would have rather been there with you.” She looked behind Luke to Alex and Reggie, who were standing a few feet away. “All of you.”

The anger left her, leaving only sadness in its wake. Tears started welling in her eyes, but she willed them not to fall. She shut her eyes tightly and crossed her arms over her chest, turning away from them.

“Julie…” Luke’s voice came out gently, but she wasn’t having it. 

“I trusted you guys. You know how hard this year has been for me. I just wanted one night where I could be normal, you know? A night where I could look beautiful and dance with my friends. A night I could show everyone that I was more than the girl who lost her mom.” She was glad she was facing away from them, so they couldn’t watch her tears fall. “But instead I just looked even more pathetic than usual.”

“We’re so sorry,” she heard one of them murmur.

She wiped the tears from her eyes, then turned around, meeting their apologetic gaze. “Friends… friends don’t do that to each other,” she said firmly. “This was a mistake. Our friendship was a mistake.”

Luke was saying something, but she didn’t care what. She had said what she needed to say. With that, she ran out of the room, not once looking back.

* * *

Luke’s heart felt like it was being hacked apart by a rusty saw.

When Julie told them that she wanted nothing to do with them anymore, he realized just how bad they had screwed things up.

“You don’t mean that,” Luke said desperately as Julie turned around and ran out of the room. “Julie. JULIE!” He yelled after her. She didn’t even look back.

Reggie sniffled “We messed up.”

“Yeah.” Alex's voice was barely a whisper.

They sat in the empty ballroom for a few moments, trying to process what had just happened. Not only the confrontation but the entire evening.

The whole night confused Luke. They went to the secret club, which was admittedly pretty awesome, but there’s no way they were the for four hours. Luke had been watching the clock closely, making sure they weren’t late, until… Until something came over him. He couldn’t quite remember, but-

 _Pain_. Pain like he had never felt before coursed through his body. There was a flash of light. Some kind of jolt rocked through his body, sending him careening backward. Everything hurt; It felt like he was brushing with death.The jolt passed after a moment, but he felt winded like someone had taken a bat and hit him right in the lungs. He gasped, trying to catch his breath.

Looking over, it seemed like Reggie and Alex had also experienced… whatever that was. Alex was clutching his stomach and Reggie looked like he was going to hurl.

Alex groaned. “OW!”

“What the hell was that?” Reggie winced, looking around to see if someone had hit them with a curse or something. There was no one around. “It felt like the life was being sucked out of me.”

“I don’t know, but it couldn’t have been good.” Luke kept a hand pressed to his chest. Whether he was trying to recover from the jolt or the heartbreak of losing Julie, he couldn’t tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did i pull an all-nighter to finish this? yes. so if there's any mistakes im sorry :( i'll try to go back and fix them once i've gotten some sleep!
> 
> anyways... how yall doing after the chapter... i would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
> 
> Up Next: The boys are sorry. Julie is pissed. Alex gets heartbroken.


	10. Rejection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahaha are you ready for pain? 
> 
> also, it's my birthday (yay) so maybe consider leaving a comment with your favorite moment of the story so far as a birthday present? pretty please?

A week had passed since the Yule Ball and Luke was starting to panic a little bit. Julie still wasn’t talking to them. To add to their terrible week, the jolt they had experienced the night of the Yule Ball was not a one-time thing, like Luke had hoped. They were increasing in frequency and pain level, and it was taking them longer and longer to recover.

The three boys had gone out to the Quidditch pitch to try and make themselves feel better. Ignoring their looming school responsibilities (which had been on the backburner for quite some time now), they stepped onto the dewy grass. Luke had his boom slung over his shoulder.

Spring was right around the corner. The snow had melted, but the breeze on the pitch was still quite cold. Luke closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to center himself-

_Pain._ A jolt struck all three of them, this one so powerful it actually caused Luke to swear out loud and drop his broom. All of them doubled over in pain, trying to gasp for air. These jolt things were getting worse fast, and they needed to figure out why.

“I’m getting sick of these things,” Reggie gasped, still trying to suck in air. “How do we make them stop?”

Alex frowned, rubbing his side. “I don’t know. Hopefully, they’ll go away on their own.”

“It doesn’t feel like they will.” Reggie stood up straight, shaking his head. “Maybe there’s a potion I can make to fix it…”

Luke picked up his broom from the ground, dusting it off. Yes, the jolts were concerning. But he was more concerned about the fact that Julie hadn’t talked to them for a week. He missed her. “We need to find Julie and apologize ASAP.”

“I don’t think she wants to talk to us right now.” Alex shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground. 

“Honestly, I don’t blame her.” Reggie sighed. “We did really mess up.”

“Can we talk about something less depressing, please?” the blonde asked, running a hand through his hair.

“Okay, fine,” Luke conceded. A small smirk crossed his face. “Let’s talk about you and Willie.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “I take it back!”

“You guys were dancing for a long time at the music club,” Reggie teased, throwing an arm around the other boy’s shoulder, “Looked very... cozy.”

Alex rolled his eyes and shoved Reggie away, enough to cause him to stumble. “I’m surprised you took your eyes away from your dance partner long enough to see that, Reg.”

He got this far-away look in his eyes. “Yeah. She was pretty.”

Luke waved his arms wildly. “Are we going to talk about the tango lunge?” He used his broom as a pretend dance partner and spun it around in a style that he tried to make look like a tango.

“What? What tango lunge?!” Reggie asked incredulously, turning to Alex. “I didn’t see that!”

Alex turned a bright red. “Shut up.” Luke grinned in triumph.

The Hufflepuff Quidditch player cleared his throat and put down his broom, setting the scene. He walked over to Reggie and grabbed his hand, starting to recreate the suave dance move that Willie had pulled on their best friend.

“Willie grabbed Alex’s hand, spun him around like this,” Luke spun Reggie, moving his hand to the small of his waist. He pulled Reggie in towards him suddenly, recreating the dance move. The dark-haired boy let out a yelp in surprise. “Then, he grabbed his leg-” Luke grabbed Reggie’s leg with a firm grip, making sure the other boy wouldn’t fall. “And lunged.” He lunged. He and Reggie were face to face, nose to nose. Luke wiggled his eyebrows. “See? Classic tango move.”

Reggie’s face was bright red as he pushed Luke away from him, stumbling back. “T-That was hot,” he stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

He winked at Reggie, whose blush deepened. Getting a rise out of him was too easy. Alex looked at both of them exasperatedly.

“You don’t randomly tango lunge with someone you’re not totally into, Alex,” Luke exclaimed, turning back to the blonde. “He likes you back.”

Alex thought about this for a moment. “I- you think?”

“Yes.”

The drummer looked at his two best friends, looking a little lost. “What do I do?”

“You tell him!” Reggie exclaimed, his face looking less like a tomato. “And then ride off into the sunset and make beautiful Slytherpuff babies.”

“We can’t- that’s not how- okay.” 

“Go!” Luke encouraged, “Ask him out right now.”

Alex’s expression became more confident. “Okay, I… I think I will.”

Reggie and Luke gaped at him. Alex wasn’t known for being the most forward person. They hadn’t actually expected him to take their advice. “Who are you and what have you done with Alex?” 

“You guys are right.” Alex thought about it for a second, then wrinkled his nose. “Well, not you Reggie.” He turned away from them, looking towards the direction of the castle. “After we danced last night, I think that maybe… he likes me too.” Luke had never heard Alex sound so hopeful, so sappy. It was a good look on him. “I’m going to tell him.”

It was like fate was listening because, at that moment, Willie walked out of the castle and onto the Quidditch pitch. He didn’t seem to notice the boys, lost in his own thoughts. His lips were turned downwards in a frown.

“Good luck Alex!” Luke whispered, patting him on the shoulders.

Reggie shot him a thumbs up. “You got this!”

Alex stood up straighter and began to walk over to Willie. Luke watched as Willie looked up and saw them. As soon as he caught sight of them, especially Alex, the Slytherin turned on his heel and bolted in the opposite direction.

From across the pitch, Luke heard Alex call out. “Willie- Willie! Wait, slow down!” He jogged after him, but Willie was too quick. He disappeared into the castle. Alex stopped and turned back to his friends, eyebrows furrowed. 

“That was weird,” Alex puzzled as he walked back over to Luke and Reggie. “Willie just totally avoided me.”

“I’m sure he just, like, didn’t hear you or something,” Reggie said. But even he didn’t look like he believed it.

Luke shook his hair out of his face. “Yeah, no sweat. Just tell him later.” He gave him a reassuring smile, which Alex tentatively returned.

Although he didn’t show it, Luke internally groaned. He didn’t want to worry Alex, who already had enough anxiety issues, but he knew the signs of being ghosted by someone. This was classic ghosting behavior. Of course, just their luck; Willie had to pick now to decide he wasn’t interested in Alex. After weeks of flirting and talking, he must have gotten cold feet.

Now, he had three things to worry about: the jolts, Julie, and Alex experiencing his first heartbreak.

* * *

Another day passed by before Alex was able to find Willie. As he entered the library, he noticed the long-haired boy in the corner. The Slytherin was looking through the shelves of books, his mind somewhere else. This allowed Alex to sneak up behind him, tapping him on the shoulder.

Willie jumped in surprise, his face falling when he realized who it was. “Alex.”

The Hufflepuff tried not to lose his nerve. “Are you avoiding me?”

“No, no,” the brunette denied, fiddling with his pukka shell necklace. He was avoiding eye contact. “What’s up?

“Okay, well… um…” Alex’s palms started to sweat. _C’mon Alex, you can do it. Just tell him!_ Alex looked down bashfully. “I just, sorry. I’m bad at this.”

Willie was confused. “Bad at what?”

_Deep breath, Alex. Just say what you feel._ “We’ve been having a lot of fun together, right? Like, ever since I’ve met you, things have been… better.” Willie looked up at Alex now, their eyes meeting. Alex’s heart was beating so fast it was about to fly out of his chest. “You’re- you’re honestly amazing. You’re so funny and chill and incredible and I just- Every time I see you it feels like my heart is going to explode.” Alex laid his feelings on the line, stepping closer to Willie.

Willie’s jaw dropped, surprised at Alex’s confession. “You- You like me?” Willie asked, his lips quirking into a slight smile.

“I like you a lot, Willie,” Alex revealed, encouraged by the other boy’s reaction. A piece of hair had fallen out of Willie’s bun. The blonde reached up and moved it out of his face gently, tucking it behind his ear. His fingers brushed the nape of Willie’s neck. _Was this the moment?_ Thoughts were racing through Ale’s head. _Should he kiss him? Maybe he should just go for it. Just go for it, Alex._ He leaned in slowly.

Suddenly, Willie’s whole demeanor shifted. He stepped away, putting a couple of feet of space between them. He crossed his arms and turned his head away. “No.” Willie said, his voice barely more than a whisper. “I-I don’t like you like that. Sorry.”

Alex’s world came crashing down in a single moment. The words rattled around in his head.

“Oh. Okay. Sorry, I must have- must have, um, misread things. My bad,” he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. He could break down later, but for right now he had to pull it together. “Can still be friends?”

“No,” Willie said resolutely. Alex wondered if Willie could hear his heart shattering into a million pieces. “We-we never should have met.” The Slytherin took another step away from him, almost in fear.

It felt like something had stabbed him through the chest. “Well, that hurts.” Alex bit his lip hard, trying not to reveal just how badly his heart was breaking.

“Hey, I’m sorry, Alex. I really am. You’re a great guy. I just… can’t.” The Slytherin’s fingernails were digging into his own arm, hard enough to leave marks. “I have to go.”

With that, Willie turned around and ran out of the library. Alex covered his mouth with his hands, trying to keep in the sob that was threatening to burst out of his throat. He needed to go somewhere… not public. He took a moment to collect himself, then walked out of the library.

The worst part was that he hadn’t seen this coming. He had always just assumed that even if Willie didn’t return his feelings, he would still want to be friends. Guess he was wrong. It was time Alex accepted the truth; Willie didn’t care about him.

_And, fair enough_ , Alex thought. _Who could ever love me anyway? I’m way too uptight, I’ve got anxiety issues. I’m too overbearing. I’m not good enough. Not for Willie. Not for anyone._

He burst into the Hufflepuff dormitories, where Luke and Reggie were sitting on their respective beds, goofing off. It was only the two of them in the room.

“Hey, Alex! How did it-”

Alex finally let himself break down. His breath started coming out in heaves, and he sunk down to the floor. His hands were shaking, one of the first signs of an oncoming anxiety attack. “I messed everything up,” he sobbed, tears rolling down his cheeks. He fisted his hands in his hair. “I’m so stupid.”

Immediately, Reggie and Luke were at his side. They both had an arm wrapped around him comfortingly, embracing him. “No no no, hey, Alex… you’re okay…” Luke soothed, removing Alex’s hands from where they were gripping his blonde strands in stress.

“I a-always mess everything up with my s-stupid feelings.”

Luke shook his head. “Your feelings aren’t stupid, Alex.”

“Did... Did Willie reject you?” Reggie asked in disbelief.

“Rejected is an understatement,” Alex scoffed bitterly. “I told him I liked him and he looked literally horrified, you guys.” He had to bite his lip to keep another sob from escaping. “Then he told me he w-wished we had never met.”

“Really?”

“That’s not like him.”

Alex sniffled. “Well, I guess I’m just that terrible then.”

“Stop,” Luke demanded, moving from his spot at his side to kneel right in front of him. He took one of Alex’s hands in his own. “You’re a catch, Alex. Any guy would be lucky to have you. Willie’s an idiot for missing out on someone as great as you,” he said sincerely.

Reggie knelt right next to Luke in front of Alex, taking his other hand. He wiped a tear off of Alex’s cheek. “Yeah. There will be plenty of others, Alex. Don’t you worry.”

“It’s… It’s just been so hard for me. To open up. To feel that way about someone.”

“We know, dude.” Reggie squeezed his hand.

“You know they say you never forget your first crush,” Luke said. “And I know it sucks to get your heart broken like that. But that shouldn’t stop you from being vulnerable with other people.” He rested his hand on Alex’s heart, feeling it beat slowly in his chest. “Your kind heart is the best thing about you, Alex. Never lose that.”

He sniffled, wiping his eyes with his sleeves. “That was one of your best Luke pep talks yet.”

“Yeah?”

“Ten out of ten.” Alex smiled a little bit, feeling a tad better.

Reggie pinched his cheek jokingly. “There’s that adorable smile.” Alex batted his hand away, but his smile grew a bit wider..

Luke stood up, offering his best friend a hand. Alex took it and let himself be helped to his feet. This was going to sting Alex for a while, but Luke and Reggie would be there for him.

“You’re going to be okay, Alex.”

* * *

Julie hadn’t realized how big a part of her life the boys had become until they weren’t in it anymore. She felt their absence sorely, every day worse than the last. Every time she saw them out of the corner of her eye, she turned the other direction, ignoring their calls.

As much as she missed them, she was still furious. She didn’t know what exactly they were up to, but she wasn’t sure it mattered. The only fact that mattered was that the boys abandoned her in front of the whole school.

She looked down at her open book. Oh, right. She had been looking for more information on Covington. She closed her book frustratedly. Not only was she dealing with the fallout from the Yule Ball, but she hadn’t made any progress on the Covington situation in a while. The silence was making her antsy. Something was about to happen. She could feel it.

Looking up, she made eye contact with a very familiar pair of hazel eyes. Ugh. The last thing she needs right now is to be distracted _. Curse Luke and his stupid beautiful eyes_. She grabbed her book and stood up, stalking down the hallway away from him. “Julie! Julie, wait-”

She wheeled around, coming face to face with the three boys for the first time in a week and a half. “What?”

As they stood facing each other, she took in their appearance. They looked… haggard, like they were sick or something. Alex looked the worst out of them, shoulders slumped and dark bags under his eyes. Her anger abated for a moment, replaced with only concern.

The anger returned, but the concern didn’t ebb. It was an unpleasant mixture sitting in her chest.

Luke was the first to speak. “We’re sorry-”

“REALLY sorry,” Alex added.

“We’re so, so, SO sorry!” Reggie exclaimed, giving Julie his biggest puppy dog eyes.

Julie sighed. She didn’t even really know what to say. “Okay.”

A moment of silence passed. The boys looked between each other, then back to Julie with a hopeful look. “So? You’ll forgive us?”

“No.” She turned on her heel, walking away from them. She just… needed more time.

Luke ran after her a few steps. “JULIE! WAIT!” He yelled but was stopped by Alex holding out a hand and shaking his head.

Leaving the boys behind, she made her way through the hallways to her next class. _Stupid boys. Stupid boys and their stupid puppy dog eyes making me feel bad._ She continued cursing them out in her head while she climbed up the stairs to the Divination classroom, entering the room.

Flynn caught one look at her sour expression and knew what was up. “The boys again?” She asked as Julie took a seat next to her at their usual table.

“Yep.”

“Do you think you’ll make up with them?”

Julie sighed, grabbing her textbook out of her bag. “I don’t know, Flynn. They really hurt me.” She put her textbook down on the desk with a little more force than usual.

“I know,” Flynn frowned. “I’m sorry Jules.” She put a consoling hand on her best friend’s shoulder.

“It’s okay.” She said, even though it wasn’t. Looking around the room, she noticed that people were staring at her and whispering. 

Carrie had done a thorough job of telling the whole school that not only had Julie gone to the Yule Ball alone, but she had tried to lie about having three dates. Just when people had started staring at her for the whole dead mom thing, this happened. Even people from her own house were being standoffish.

“I just hate all the looks I’m getting. I feel like I have a huge light-up sign that says _LOSER_ on my back,” Julie grumbled.

Flynn caught the eye of a couple of students staring at Julie and glared at them. They looked away hastily. “People are just being stupid. Everyone will forget about it soon enough.” 

Professor Ogra mulled around the front of the room restlessly. At closer look, Julie noticed that she looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Her hair, which usually was pin straight, was frizzy and mangled, like she had just rolled out of bed. Pacing around the front of the room, muttering to herself, she was starting to attract looks from the students.

She looked up suddenly and startled, as if forgetting that she was about to teach a class. “O-Oh! Hello.” She exclaimed, adjusting her glasses. “Good evening, class.”

It was, in fact, ten o’clock in the morning. Murmurs broke out. Flynn gave Ogra an unimpressed stare. “I’m not in the mood for this,” she said to Julie under her breath. Julie had to cough to cover up her laugh.

She swept by the first row of tables, brushing by students with her billowing robes. “Today, you will be learning to identify auras,” she announced. She was pacing the aisles now, and rapidly approaching Julie and Flynn’s table. “Now, when looking to read someone’s aura, it is critical that you-” As soon as she got close to Julie’s table, she doubled over. “AH!”

Professor Ogra fell to the ground, spasming. Julie and Flynn immediately got out of their chairs and knelt next to her, trying to figure out what was going on. Students started leaping out of their chairs, rushing over to see what was happening. “Professor!” A student exclaimed.

Julie was frozen. Ice was creeping through her veins. Ogra’s eyes were white, just like they had been when she had delivered the prophecy.

For a moment, Ogra stopped spasming. She grabbed Julie’s wrist and looked her dead in the eye. “ _The prophecy is coming to pass,_ ” she spoke in a raspy voice. “ _It has begun_.”

With that, the professor promptly lost consciousness.

“Someone go and get the headmistress!” Someone shouted. Without a second thought, Julie stood up from her knelt position and bolted.

Julie had never sprinted out of a classroom so fast in her life.

* * *

It was late, but the fire was still flickering in the hearth of the Hufflepuff common room. The room was deserted, save for three boys who were sitting by the fire. Alex was splayed horizontally on the couch while he spun his wand between his fingers like a drumstick. Reggie was seated on the ground, his back leaning against the couch.

Luke groaned from his seated position in the armchair, which was next to the couch. He couldn’t stop thinking about Julie.

More specifically, he couldn’t stop playing their confrontation over and over in his head. The worst part was that, at first, he thought he had made it in time. Seeing Julie, standing there, looking like something straight out of a dream…

But then, reality had come crashing down. They had messed up, big time. And Luke was afraid that Julie might never forgive him

The guilt roiled in Luke’s chest. “I feel awful,” he complained, tipping his head back and exhaling.

Reggie looked up at him from his spot on the floor. “No offense, dude, but you look awful.”

Luke scowled. “You don’t exactly look amazing yourself.” Reggie made an offended noise.

“None of us look great, okay?” Alex pointed out, always the mediator. “We look like we haven’t gotten a solid night’s sleep since, like, 1995. It’s because of those stupid jolts.” The blonde rubbed his eyes tiredly.

“I was talking about Julie, you guys,” Luke clarified. The other two Hufflepuffs frowned, thinking about the Ravenclaw. “But those stupid jolt things don’t help.”

“Yeah, they really hurt. I had, like, at least three today.” Reggie rubbed his ribs as if he could still feel the pain.

“Me too.” Alex looked into the fire, lost in thought. “Do you think we’ve been cursed or something?”

Luke furrowed his eyebrows. “Who would want to curse us?”

“I don’t know,” Alex said. “But I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

The two brunettes shared a concerned look while Alex continued to gaze at the fire. They had all been on edge since the Yule Ball, but the last few days, ever since Willie’s rejection, Alex had been different. His anxiety was acting up more than usual; he was spacing out all of the time, his nails were stubs, and even the one time that he had tried to play the drums he ended up nearly breaking the cymbal with the force of his playing.

Reggie got up from his position on the floor, something dawning on him. “Wait… the jolts started the night of the Yule Ball, right?” They nodded. “That was the night we visited the club. Actually, the jolts started, like, right after we left the club. And, to be honest, the club did seem kind of... weird. Everything felt like a dream. And then, after we left, I was super exhausted. Like, pull two consecutive all-nighters exhausted.”

“Same.” Luke chimed in. Alex nodded in agreement.

_Pain_. A jolt passed over all three guys, light flashing over their chests.

Reggie fell to the ground. Alex toppled off the couch. Luke hunched over, his head nearly between his knees. Just like the previous times, his breath was stolen right out of his chest. But this time, it was worse. He felt… less solid. Like at any moment he could just fall through the floor.

“Why is this happening to us?” Alex gasped, clutching his chest. Reggie groaned from his place on the floor. Luke panted, trying to get his breath back.

“It’s because you guys are in serious trouble,” someone said behind them.

Alex, Reggie, and Luke looked up. Willie revealed himself, stepping out of a dark corner of the Hufflepuff common room, looking more serious than Luke had ever seen him.

“Willie?” Alex croaked, scrambling up from his position on the floor. He winced as he stood up, still clutching his chest. “How did you get in here?”

The Slytherin’s gaze flitted between the three boys. “We need to talk.”

This couldn’t be good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry it all gets better soon kinda i promise.
> 
> I will be updating way more now because i am on break officially! wahoooo no more school. might even update twice this week in celebration. 
> 
> UP NEXT: Carrie does something mean, but it turns out working out for the better.


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